Yuri Bondarev hot snow. Yuri Bondarevhot snow

The text is printed according to the edition: Bondarev Yu. V. Collection. cit.: in 8 volumes. M.: Voice: Russian Archive, 1993. T. 2

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Brief information about the author

In 1931 the family moved to Moscow. After graduating from school (1941), the main test in life was the Great Patriotic War. From Stalingrad it was a long way to Czechoslovakia. Wounded twice. Returning from the war, he graduated Literary Institute named after M. Gorky, began publishing in 1949, member of the Union of Writers of the USSR since 1951. The first collection of stories, “On the Big River,” was published in 1953. Then the novels were published: “Silence” (1962), “Two” (1964), “Hot Snow” (1969), “The Shore” (1975), “Choice” (1980), “The Game” (1985), “ Temptation" (1991), "Non-resistance" (1996), "Bermuda Triangle" (1999); stories: “Youth of Commanders” (1956), “Battalions Ask for Fire” (1957), “Last Salvos” (1959), “Relatives” (1969); collections of lyrical and philosophical miniatures “Moments” (1977, 1979, 1983, 1987, 1988, 2001 ( full meeting miniatures), books of stories, literary articles.

Three Collected Works were published in the Soviet Union and Russia: 1973–1974 (4 volumes), 1984–1986 (6 volumes), 1993–1996 (9 volumes).

Translated into more than 70 languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Polish, Turkish, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Greek, Arabic, Hindi , Chinese and others. In total, from 1958 to 1980, 150 publications were published abroad.

Several monographs are devoted to the writer’s work. Among them: O. Mikhailov “Yuri Bondarev” (1976), E. Gorbunova “Yuri Bondarev” (1980), V. Korobov “Yuri Bondarev” (1984), Y. Idashkin “Yuri Bondarev” (1987), N. Fed "Bondarev's Artistic Discoveries" (1988).

Filmed based on the works of Yu. Bondarev art films: “Last Salvos”, “Silence”, “Shore”, “Choice”, film epic “Liberation” together with Yu. Ozerov and O. Kurganov. Member of the Union of Cinematographers.

From 1990 to 1994 - Chairman of the Writers' Union of Russia. For eight years - co-chairman, then member of the executive committee of the International Society of Writers' Unions.

He was elected as a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of the 9th–10th convocations, and was Deputy Chairman of the Council of Nationalities of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (1984–1989).

Currently – Chairman of the Award Committee International Prize named after M. Sholokhov. Full member of the Russian, International Slavic, Petrine and Pushkin academies, as well as the Academy Russian literature. Honorary Professor of the Moscow State Open Pedagogical University named after M.

A. Sholokhova.

Hero of Socialist Labor, laureate of the Lenin Prize, two State Prizes of the USSR, State Prize RSFSR, Leo Tolstoy Prize, International M. Sholokhov Prize, All-Russian Stalingrad Prize, Alexander Nevsky Prize, V. Trediakovsky Prize. Awarded two Orders of Lenin, Orders of the Red Banner of Labor, October revolution, "Badge of honor", Patriotic War I degree, two medals “For Courage”, a medal “For the Defense of Stalingrad”, “For Victory over Germany”, as well as the order “ Big Star Friendship of Peoples" (GDR).

Lives and works in Moscow.

By the very essence of existence

Yuri Vasilievich Bondarev is the largest Russian writer of the 20th century, included in Soviet literature How bright representative"war generation" He created an epic panorama of the feat of our people in the Great Patriotic War, at the same time - and more deeply with each new work - conducting moral and philosophical quests in the high traditions of Leo Tolstoy and Ivan Bunin. As already noted in criticism, the writer finds a reflection of the fate of the nation in the private fate of the individual.

In one of his novels, which acutely raises moral and civil issues, affirming the concepts of honor, duty, conscience in a peaceful post-war, but deceptively quiet time, which has just begun its countdown, which is called “Silence” (1962), Yuri Bondarev confronts the buffet counter of two young people: one is a former Katyusha driver, sergeant, and now simply disabled, Pavel, the other is artillery captain Sergei Vokhmintsev, who has returned to Moscow. Surprised by his title, Paul asks:

“Are you the captain? When did you have time? Since what year? Your face...

“Since the twenty-fourth,” Sergei answered.

“Happy and lucky,” Pavel drawled and repeated firmly: “Lucky... Lucky.”

- Why lucky?

“Brother, I’ve become familiar with these doctors and commissions,” Pavel spoke with gloomy gaiety. - “From twenty fourth year? - they ask. - You are lucky. “They say, “rarely anyone comes to us from the twenty-fourth to the twenty-third.”

Going through the names of many of Bondarev’s memorable and beloved heroes - artillery captain Boris Ermakov (“Battalions Ask for Fire,” 1957), battery commander Dmitry Novikov (“Last Salvos,” 1959), Lieutenant Kuznetsov (“Hot Snow,” 1969), the heroes of the tetralogy about the Russian intelligentsia - the writer Nikitin ("The Shore", 1975), the artist Vasiliev ("Choice", 1980), the film director Krymov ("The Game", 1985), the scientist Drozdov ("Temptation", 1991), we can easily notice that they belong to the same generation as Vokhmintsev. To the generation that encountered the war at the age of eighteen and suffered the greatest damage from its deadly sickle.

Twenty-four is the year of birth of Yuri Bondarev.

He was born on March 15, 1924 in the Urals, in Orsk, in the family of a people's investigator; as an eight-year-old boy he moved with his parents to Moscow. The ten-year school was replaced by the school of war.

His youth, scorched by the war, having learned something that no other person would know throughout his entire life (“We were then twenty years old and forty at the same time,” he said about his generation), is so dramatic that it seems By virtue of this alone, it demanded to be imprinted in words, it demanded comprehension of those terrible and heroic events that our Motherland experienced for almost five years.

Three percent of this generation survived! And these few, who survived the fiery tornadoes, delegated to literature an impressive number of writers, marked by a bright moral and artistic gift. I will name only a few from the extensive list: Vladimir Bogomolov, Yuri Bondarev, Vasil Bykov, Konstantin Vorobyov, Yuri Goncharov, Evgeniy Nosov.

Starting from the bitter winter of 1942, when he was wounded on the outskirts of Stalingrad, Yu. Bondarev throughout the subsequent years of fire was a warrior, not a chronicler, but a participant in what was happening, the commander of an anti-tank gun, a possible hero of the front-line essays and correspondence written then.

In the rich work of the writer, a special place is occupied by the novel about the Stalingrad epic “Hot Snow”.

In it, Y. Bondarev was attracted (in the words of Leo Tolstoy) by “folk thought.” However, it would be simply impossible to write differently about Stalingrad, where the fate of the Great Patriotic War was decided. This “folk thought” gave novelty to the work in three aspects at once: firstly, it changed dramatically scale storytelling; secondly, the writer for the first time focused his attention on how the character of the young commander, Nikolai Kuznetsov, is born and formed before our eyes (before that we met Ermakov and Novikov, who were already established and, as it were, “solidified” in their perception of the war); finally, that innovative aesthetic system in the depiction of the war, the foundations of which were laid by the writer in the stories “The Battalions Ask for Fire” and “The Last Salvos.”

At one time, the fundamental innovation of Leo Tolstoy was “double” artistic vision, like the vision of an eagle, allowing the writer in the epic “War and Peace” to cover with his gaze a huge space, say, the entire Borodino field of a thousand fathoms, while simultaneously discerning the smallest details in his characters. “Pettiness” and “generalization,” as the writer himself called it, are inextricably united. This one here general principle instant change of focus, free floating over the map of events and quick switching to “private” psychology was fruitfully used by a number of writers of the 20th century. But before “Hot Snow,” it was believed that this Tolstoy discovery could only be the property of a lengthy epic.

In the novel by Yu. Bondarev, division commander Deev, member of the Military Council Vesnin, army commander Bessonov, and finally Supreme Commander-in-Chief Stalin appear (although the action is still confined to the tight framework of one day, and in the center of the story is one artillery battery standing at the forefront). The fruitful principle of “double vision” manifested itself in a renewed way in a certain “bipolarity” of a small novel, which thanks to this absorbed the content of an entire epic. In other words, in “Hot Snow” there is a constant switching between two visions of the grandiose battle with Manstein’s divisions trying to break through to the encircled group of Paulus - large-scale, all-encompassing - of Army Commander Bessonov and “trench”, limited to the tight space of a patch occupied by an artillery battery - of Lieutenant Kuznetsov .

The thought of Stalingrad becomes the axial, mainline in the novel “Hot Snow”, subordinating the destinies of everyone characters, influencing their actions and thoughts. Yu. Bondarev shows those heroes of the Red Army - infantrymen and artillerymen - at whom the tip of the blow of Manstein's tank avalanche was directed, who fought to the death on the southern bank of the Myshkovka River, were crushed, trampled by a German steel boot, who finally stepped onto the northern bank, and that's all -they continued to live, resist, and destroy the enemy. Even General Bessonov, the brain of the army, its will condensed into one lump, the military leader who, back in 1941, burned out all pity and condescension in himself, is amazed at the feat of the survivors there, in the rear of the enemy, who broke through, but thanks to their inhuman resistance, lost offensive strength, pressure, and was finally stopped and turned back.

The enemy faced like this a resistance that seemed to surpass any idea of human capabilities. With some kind of surprised respect, many of those who were on the side of the Nazis in that war recall the fortitude of the Soviet soldiers, their decisive contribution to the victory. So, passed through the fields Russia and who found himself in the West at the end of the war, Bruno Winzer says in his book “Soldier of Three Armies”: “Just a few days ago we fought against the Red Army, and it defeated us, this is indisputable. But these ones here? I didn’t think the British were the winners.” And it was no coincidence that the elderly and now retired Field Marshal Manstein refused to meet with Yu. Bondarev, having learned that he was working on a book about the Battle of Stalingrad.

Who stopped Manstein’s tank ram then, in the fierce winter of 1942? Who accomplished this feat?

The writer introduces us to the soldiers and officers (more precisely, commanders, since the rank of “officer” came into force only in February of the following, victorious for Stalingrad 1943) of one artillery battery, in which there are four classmates at once, graduates of the same school, an exemplary combat soldier , demanding, smart, battalion commander Lieutenant Drozdovsky, platoon commanders Kuznetsov and Davlatyan, senior sergeant Ukhanov, who was not given a rank for AWOL committed just before production.

We manage already in the first pages of the novel, during the deadly long march across the icy steppe, unbearable due to the severe December cold and fatigue - from the railway station to the combat positions - to get acquainted with other heroes who will have to perform their feat. With the gunner of the first gun, Sergeant Nechaev, with the young Kazakh Kasymov, with the small and pitiful Chibisov, who was captured, with the battery foreman Skorik, with two riders - “thin, pale, with a frightened face of a teenager” Sergunenkov and the elderly Rubin, a distrustful, ruthless peasant. With the battery medical instructor Zoya Elagina (“in a flirtatious white sheepskin coat, in neat white felt boots, in white embroidered mittens, not military, all, it seemed, festively clean, winter, coming from another, calm, distant world”).

Bondarev’s skill as a portrait painter has grown so much in comparison with the stories “Battalions Ask for Fire” and “The Last Salvos” that already in the exhibition he outlines the characters everyone participants in the upcoming mortal battle, expressively capturing a certain spiritual dominant of each of them. Consider, for example, the episode when, while lowering a gun into a ravine, a horse broke its front legs. Crying Sergunenkov in last time feeds her with a hidden handful of oats, the horse with human acuteness senses the inevitable approach of his death, and Rubin indifferently, no, even with pleasure, with some kind of vengeful cruelty, undertakes to shoot her and does not kill her with one shot. And now Ukhanov, with hatred, snatches the rifle from him and, his face white, ends the animal’s suffering.

We should immediately add (and this again new feature for Bondarev’s prose), which we will recognize more than once in those familiar to us - side! – the characters are new and seemingly completely unexpected for them, but in fact psychologically convincing features that significantly change the first impression. If they suddenly turn to us with their a new facet the secondary characters, then the leading ones - Kuznetsov, Davlatyan, Drozdovsky - immediately, clearly and definitely tune the reader to their “main wave”. They are interesting enough in themselves that they need to be re-evaluated somehow. We dive into the depth of their characters and, during the trials they endure, we only clarify the routes of travel of their souls.

Only to a superficial observer may Drozdovsky seem like a “knight without fear and reproach,” a new Ermakov or Novikov. Already the first meeting with the battery commander forces the reader to peer warily at him: there is too much ostentation, demonstrativeness, panache and pose. However, not only superficial, but also a loving glance. When, at the moment of the attack on the Messer station, Drozdovsky runs out of the car and sends burst after burst from a light machine gun at the enemy fighters, medical instructor Zoya irritably says to Kuznetsov: “Eh, Lieutenant Kuznetsov? Why don't you shoot at planes? Are you a coward? Only Drozdovsky?..”

Undoubtedly, close to the spectacular, coldly impenetrable and, as it were, charged with risk, Drozdovsky’s feat, Kuznetsov looks too “everyday”, “humane”, “domestic”. The qualities of a soldier and commander will be revealed in him only later, during the day of the terrible battle with tanks at Myshkovka, during his self-education in the feat. While the “Moscow boy”, yesterday’s tenth grader, still lives indestructibly within him, this is how he is seen by the broken Ukhanov, and the gloomily silent Rubin, and Zoya Elagina herself (who, together with Drozdovsky, hides from everyone that they are husband and wife: there is no time at the front marital tenderness).

But if Zoya Elagina has to slowly, painfully re-evaluate these two heroes - Drozdovsky and Kuznetsov, then the reader will discover much earlier potential strength each of them.

Talking about the creation of the novel “Hot Snow,” Yu. Bondarev defined the concept of heroism in war as follows: “It seems to me that heroism is the constant overcoming in one’s consciousness of doubts, uncertainty, and fear. Imagine: frost, icy wind, one cracker for two, frozen grease in the shutters of the machine guns; fingers in frosty mittens do not bend from the cold; anger at the cook who was late to the front line; disgusting sucking in the pit of the stomach at the sight of Junkers entering a dive; the death of comrades... And in a minute you have to go into battle, towards everything hostile that wants to kill you. The whole life of a soldier is compressed into these moments; these minutes - to be or not to be - are the moment of overcoming oneself. This is “quiet” heroism, seemingly hidden from prying eyes, heroism in itself. But he determined victory in the last war, because millions fought.”

The heroism of millions permeated the entire thickness of the Red Army, which appears in the novel as a deep and full expression Russian character, as the embodiment of the moral imperative of the multinational Soviet people. The armored fascist fist of four hundred tanks was opposed by people who not only carried out their military duty. No, having already completed it, they continued to make inhuman efforts, as if refusing to die, fighting, it seems, beyond the line of death. Here the great patience of the Russian people was revealed, for which Stalin raised a toast in the victorious spring of 1945.

This long-suffering and endurance are manifested every moment and hour - in the “quiet” heroism of Kuznetsov and his comrades Ukhanov, Nechaev, Rubin, Zoya Elagina and in the wise waiting of Bessonov, who decided not to spray, to hold on to the last, turning point, the two buildings that should approach . Like a focused beam, the word “Stalingrad” burns through, forcing everyone to feel like a part of a common monolith, animated by one idea: to survive.

Compared to this general “quiet” heroism, the behavior of Lieutenant Drozdovsky looks especially theatrical and absurd. However, to finally collapse theater scenery, erected by his egoistic fantasy, and the true face of war was revealed to him - as rough, hard, everyday “dirty” work, in order for him to feel the collapse and pitifulness of his desire for personal triumph, he must lose his Zoya. To lose her, so to speak, physically, because spiritually and morally he had already lost her before, when his romantic image was destroyed and melted away in the “hot snow” of war.

Zoya Elagina - another and completely new one female image in a number of military works by Bondarev, where, if you look closely, there is a prospect of weakening sensual and predominance spiritual began in showing love in war: from the completely “earthly” Shura, who does not hide her infidelity to Ermakov in “Battalions...” to the girlish, ardent Lena in “The Last Salvos”, and then to Zoya Elagina, who is so moral and pure that she frightens the very possibility of touching her, wounded, strangers male hands. At the end of the novel, Zoya is wounded in the stomach and commits suicide herself.

The artist’s longing for an ideal, especially important when in our time ideals are subject to systematic destruction, systematic “weathering,” gave rise to the desire to depict a sublime and pure soul, as if to highlight the ideal feminine principle. The very “decrystallization” of love for Drozdovsky and the vague, as if still “premonition” for Kuznetsov do not carry in themselves anything “modest,” roughly earthly, physiological. However, Kuznetsov himself cannot and does not want to cross the threshold of pure, childishly disinterested attraction to Zoya. Kuznetsov and Zoya had only one intimacy - the proximity of death under direct blows from tank guns.

Having survived and withstood inhuman trials, Kuznetsov gains folk attitude towards death, first of all towards one’s own death, simply without thinking about it. “The essence of grace is from those who stand here, who have not tasted death...” (“There are those standing here who do not know death,” says the Gospel). Death retreats from him, giving him the mournful opportunity to bury others: junior sergeant Chubarikov, “with a naively long neck, like the stem of a sunflower”; gunner Evstigneev, “with a sinuous stream of blood caked near his ear”; bloody, wide-cheeked Kasymov; Zoya, who will be carried on his, Kuznetsov’s, overcoat.

In the depiction of war and man at war in the novel “Hot Snow” we see a new beginning for Bondarev, one might say, a Sholokhov-esque beginning. This Sholokhov beginning led Bondarev the prose writer to the depths of the epic and made it possible to compress a huge number of human destinies, characters, and events into a single whole, into a kind of artistic monolith. It also had a significant impact on Bondarev’s aesthetics in depicting war.

Already in the stories “The Battalions Ask for Fire” and “The Last Salvos” Yu. Bondarev showed us a kind of new aesthetics in conveying the details of the battle. Colorful pictures of battle, striking with the power of external imagery - dive bombers, tank attacks, artillery duels - stood out from the entire huge mass of what was written about the Great Patriotic War, by a certain “animation” of these man-made creatures, like giant metal insects - crawling, jumping , flying. However, in this fruitful (and innovative) trend there was a danger of being carried away by the visual side of showing war, which could be called the danger excesses of skill.

It is in “Hot Snow” that Yu. Bondarev’s prose finally loses the glimmer of dapperness, loses some of the writer’s desire to demonstrate his visual possibilities. He seems to be carrying out artistic practice Suvorov's fighting principle is straight to the target, approach, fight! Words explode, suffer, suffer, like living people. There is no technique, no mastery: there is a fluid, living life that hypnotizes us.

Losing the redundancy of colors, Bondarev’s aesthetics in showing war becomes stricter and from this only increases its internal pictorial power. This allows the author in a “bipolar novel” to use rapid changes in plans, image scales, and move from deep psychological analysis to a free epic manner, where events are viewed as if from a great height.

He belongs to the glorious galaxy of front-line soldiers who, having survived the war, reflected its essence in bright and complete novels. The authors took the images of their heroes from real life. And the events that we calmly perceive from the pages of books in peacetime happened for them with their own eyes. Summary“Hot Snow,” for example, is the horror of bombing, the whistling of stray bullets, and frontal tank and infantry attacks. Even now, reading about this, an ordinary peaceful person is plunged into the abyss of the dark and menacing events of that time.

Front-line writer

Bondarev is one of the recognized masters of this genre. When you read the works of such authors, you are inevitably amazed at the realism of the lines that reflect various aspects of the difficult military life. After all, he himself went through a difficult front-line path, starting at Stalingrad and ending in Czechoslovakia. That's why novels produce this strong impression. They amaze with the brightness and truthfulness of the plot.

One of the brightest emotional works, which Bondarev created, “Hot Snow” tells the story of such simple but immutable truths. The title of the story itself speaks volumes. There is no hot snow in nature; it melts under sun rays. However, in the work he is hot from the blood shed in heavy battles, from the number of bullets and shrapnel that fly into brave fighters, from the unbearable hatred of Soviet soldiers of any rank (from private to marshal) towards the German invaders. Bondarev created such a stunning image.

War is not only a battle

The story “Hot Snow” (the summary, of course, does not convey all the liveliness of the style and the tragedy of the plot) gives some answers to the moral and psychological literary lines that were begun in more early works author, such as “The Battalions Ask for Fire” and “The Last Salvos.”

Like no one else, when telling the cruel truth about that war, Bondarev does not forget about the manifestation of ordinary human feelings and emotions. “Hot Snow” (analysis of his images surprises with the lack of categoricalness) is just an example of such a combination of black and white. Despite the tragedy of the military events, Bondarev makes it clear to the reader that even in war there are completely peaceful feelings of love, friendship, elementary human hostility, stupidity and betrayal.

Fierce battles near Stalingrad

Retelling the summary of “Hot Snow” is quite difficult. The story takes place near Stalingrad, the city where the Red Army finally broke its back in fierce battles German Wehrmacht. A little south of the blocked 6th Army of Paulus, the Soviet command creates a powerful defensive line. The artillery barrier and the infantry attached to it must stop another “strategist”, Manstein, who is rushing to the rescue of Paulus.

As we know from history, it was Paulus who was the creator and inspirer of the sad known plan Barbarossa. And for obvious reasons, Hitler could not allow an entire army, and even one led by one of the best theoreticians of the German General Staff, to be surrounded. Therefore, the enemy spared no effort and resources in order to break through an operational passage for the 6th Army from the encirclement created by the Soviet troops.

Bondarev wrote about these events. “Hot Snow” tells about the battles on a tiny patch of land, which, according to Soviet intelligence, has become “tank dangerous.” A battle is about to take place here, which may decide the outcome of the Battle of the Volga.

Lieutenants Drozdovsky and Kuznetsov

The army under the command of Lieutenant General Bessonov receives the task of blocking enemy tank columns. It includes the artillery unit described in the story, commanded by Lieutenant Drozdovsky. Even a brief summary of “Hot Snow” cannot be left without describing the image of a young commander who has just received the rank of officer. It should be mentioned that even at school Drozdovsky was in good standing. Disciplines were easy, and his stature and natural military bearing pleased the eyes of any combat commander.

The school was located in Aktyubinsk, from where Drozdovsky went straight to the front. Together with him, another graduate of the Aktobe Artillery School, Lieutenant Kuznetsov, was assigned to the same unit. By coincidence, Kuznetsov received command of a platoon of the very same battery commanded by Lieutenant Drozdovsky. Surprised by the vicissitudes military destiny, Lieutenant Kuznetsov reasoned philosophically - his career is just beginning, and this is far from his last assignment. It would seem, what kind of career is there when there is war all around? But even such thoughts visited the people who became the prototypes of the heroes of the story “Hot Snow.”

The summary should be supplemented by the fact that Drozdovsky immediately dotted the i’s: he was not going to remember the cadet era, where both lieutenants were equal. Here he is the battery commander, and Kuznetsov is his subordinate. At first, calmly reacting to such life metamorphoses, Kuznetsov begins to quietly grumble. He does not like some of Drozdovsky’s orders, but, as is known, discussing orders in the army is prohibited, and therefore the young officer has to come to terms with the current state of affairs. Part of this irritation was facilitated by the obvious attention to the commander of the medical instructor Zoya, who deep down in his soul Kuznetsov himself liked.

Motley crew

Focusing on the problems of his platoon, the young officer completely dissolves in them, studying the people he was to command. The people in Kuznetsov’s platoon were mixed. What images did Bondarev describe? “Hot Snow,” a brief summary of which will not convey all the subtleties, describes in detail the stories of the fighters.

For example, Sergeant Ukhanov also studied at the Aktobe Artillery School, but due to a stupid misunderstanding he did not receive the officer rank. Upon arrival at the unit, Drozdovsky began to look down on him, considering him unworthy of the title of Soviet commander. Lieutenant Kuznetsov, on the contrary, perceived Ukhanov as an equal, maybe because of petty revenge against Drozdovsky, or maybe because Ukhanov was really a good artilleryman.

Another subordinate of Kuznetsov, Private Chibisov, already had a rather sad combat experience. The unit where he served was surrounded, and the private himself was captured. And gunner Nechaev, a former sailor from Vladivostok, amused everyone with his uncontrollable optimism.

Tank strike

While the battery was moving towards the designated line, and its fighters were getting acquainted and getting used to each other, in strategic terms the situation at the front changed dramatically. This is how events develop in the story “Hot Snow”. A brief summary of Manstein’s operation to liberate the encircled 6th Army can be conveyed as follows: a concentrated tank attack end-to-end between two Soviet armies. The fascist command entrusted this task to the master of tank breakthroughs. The operation had a loud name - “Winter Thunderstorm”.

The blow was unexpected and therefore quite successful. The tanks entered the two armies end-to-end and penetrated 15 km into the Soviet defensive formations. General Bessonov receives a direct order to localize the breakthrough in order to prevent tanks from entering the operational space. To do this, Bessonov’s army is being reinforced with a tank corps, making it clear to the army commander that this is the last reserve of Headquarters.

The Last Frontier

The line to which Drozdovsky’s battery advanced was the last. It is here that the main events about which the work “Hot Snow” is written will take place. Arriving at the scene, the lieutenant receives orders to dig in and prepare to repel a possible tank attack.

The army commander understands that Drozdovsky’s reinforced battery is doomed. The more optimistic divisional commissar Vesnin disagrees with the general. He believes that thanks to their high morale, Soviet soldiers will survive. A dispute arises between the officers, as a result of which Vesnin goes to the front line to encourage the soldiers preparing for battle. The old general does not really trust Vesnin, deep down considering his presence at the command post to be unnecessary. But he has no time to conduct psychological analysis.

“Hot Snow” continues with the fact that the battle at the battery began with a massive bomber raid. The first time they come under bombs, most of the soldiers are afraid, including Lieutenant Kuznetsov. However, having pulled himself together, he realizes that this is only a prelude. Very soon he and Lieutenant Drozdovsky will have to put all the knowledge they were given at school into practice.

Heroic Efforts

Self-propelled guns soon appeared. Kuznetsov, together with his platoon, bravely takes the battle. He is afraid of death, but at the same time he feels disgust for it. Even a brief summary of “Hot Snow” allows you to understand the tragedy of the situation. The tank destroyers sent shell after shell at their enemies. However, the forces were not equal. After some time, all that was left of the entire battery was one serviceable gun and a handful of soldiers, including both officers and Ukhanov.

There were fewer and fewer shells, and the soldiers began to use bunches of anti-tank grenades. When attempting to blow up a German self-propelled gun, young Sergunenkov dies, following Drozdovsky’s order. Kuznetsov, throwing away his chain of command in the heat of battle, accuses him of the senseless death of a fighter. Drozdovsky takes the grenade himself, trying to prove that he is not a coward. However, Kuznetsov holds him back.

And even in battle there are conflicts

What does Bondarev write about next? “Hot snow,” a brief summary of which we present in the article, continues with the breakthrough of German tanks through Drozdovsky’s battery. Bessonov, seeing the desperate situation of Colonel Deev’s entire division, is in no hurry to bring his tank reserve into battle. He does not know whether the Germans used their reserves.

And the battle was still going on at the battery. Medical instructor Zoya dies senselessly. This makes a very strong impression on Lieutenant Kuznetsov, and he again accuses Drozdovsky of the stupidity of his orders. And the surviving fighters are trying to get hold of ammunition on the battlefield. The lieutenants, taking advantage of the relative calm, organize assistance to the wounded and prepare for new battles.

Tank reserve

Just at this moment, the long-awaited reconnaissance returns, which confirms that the Germans have brought all their reserves into battle. The soldier is sent to the observation post of General Bessonov. The army commander, having received this information, orders his last reserve, the tank corps, to enter the battle. To speed up his exit, he sends Deev towards the unit, but he, running into German infantry, dies with weapons in his hands.

Was a complete surprise to Hoth, resulting in a breakthrough German forces was localized. Moreover, Bessonov receives orders to develop his success. The strategic plan was a success. The Germans pulled all their reserves to the site of Operation Winter Storm and lost them.

Hero Awards

Watching the tank attack from his OP, Bessonov is surprised to notice a single gun, which is also firing at German tanks. The general is shocked. Not believing his eyes, he takes out all the awards from the safe and, together with his adjutant, goes to the position of Drozdovsky’s destroyed battery. “Hot Snow” is a novel about the unconditional masculinity and heroism of people. That, regardless of their regalia and ranks, a person must fulfill his duty without worrying about rewards, especially since they themselves find heroes.

Bessonov is amazed at the resilience of a handful of people. Their faces were smoked and burned. There are no insignia visible. The army commander silently took the Order of the Red Banner and distributed it to all the survivors. Kuznetsov, Drozdovsky, Chibisov, Ukhanov and an unknown infantryman received high awards.

Yuri Bondarev

HOT SNOW

Chapter first

Kuznetsov could not sleep. The knocking and rattling on the roof of the carriage grew louder and louder, the overlapping winds struck like a blizzard, and the barely visible window above the bunks became more and more densely covered with snow.

The locomotive, with a wild, blizzard-piercing roar, drove the train through the night fields, in the white haze rushing from all sides, and in the thunderous darkness of the carriage, through the frozen squeal of the wheels, through the alarming sobs, the muttering of the soldiers in their sleep, this roar was heard continuously warning someone locomotive, and it seemed to Kuznetsov that there, ahead, behind the snowstorm, the glow of a burning city was already dimly visible.

After stopping in Saratov, it became clear to everyone that the division was urgently being transferred to Stalingrad, and not to Western Front, as originally intended; and now Kuznetsov knew that the journey remained for several hours. And, pulling the hard, unpleasantly damp collar of his overcoat over his cheek, he could not warm himself up, gain warmth in order to sleep: there was a piercing blow through the invisible cracks of the swept window, icy drafts walked through the bunks.

“That means I won’t see my mother for a long time,” thought Kuznetsov, shrinking from the cold, “they drove us past...”.

What was a past life - the summer months at the school in hot, dusty Aktyubinsk, with hot winds from the steppe, with the cries of donkeys on the outskirts suffocating in the sunset silence, so precise in time every night that platoon commanders in tactical exercises, languishing with thirst , not without relief, they checked their watches, marches in the stupefying heat, tunics sweaty and scorched white in the sun, the creaking of sand on their teeth; Sunday patrol of the city, in the city garden, where in the evenings a military brass band played peacefully on the dance floor; then graduation from school, loading into the carriages on an alarming autumn night, a gloomy forest covered in wild snow, snowdrifts, dugouts of a formation camp near Tambov, then again, alarmingly at a frosty pink December dawn, hasty loading onto the train and, finally, departure - all this unsteady , temporary, someone-controlled life has faded now, remained far behind, in the past. And there was no hope of seeing his mother, and just recently he had almost no doubt that they would be taken west through Moscow.

“I’ll write to her,” Kuznetsov thought with a suddenly aggravated feeling of loneliness, “and I’ll explain everything. After all, we haven’t seen each other for nine months...”

And the whole carriage was sleeping under the grinding, squealing, under the cast-iron roar of the runaway wheels, the walls swayed tightly, the upper bunks shook at the frantic speed of the train, and Kuznetsov, shuddering, having finally vegetated in the drafts near the window, turned back his collar and looked with envy at the commander of the second platoon sleeping next to him. Lieutenant Davlatyan - his face was not visible in the darkness of the bunk.

“No, here, near the window, I won’t sleep, I’ll freeze until I reach the front line,” Kuznetsov thought with annoyance at himself and moved, stirred, hearing the frost crunching on the boards of the carriage.

He freed himself from the cold, prickly tightness of his place, jumped off the bunk, feeling that he needed to warm up by the stove: his back was completely numb.

In the iron stove on the side of the closed door, flickering with thick frost, the fire had long gone out, only the ash-blower was red with a motionless pupil. But it seemed a little warmer down here. In the gloom of the carriage, this crimson glow of coal faintly illuminated the various new felt boots, bowlers, and duffel bags under their heads sticking out in the aisle. The orderly Chibisov slept uncomfortably on the lower bunks, right on the soldiers’ feet; his head was tucked into his collar up to the top of his hat, his hands were tucked into the sleeves.

Chibisov! - Kuznetsov called and opened the door of the stove, which wafted out a barely perceptible warmth from inside. - Everything went out, Chibisov!

There was no answer.

Orderly, do you hear?

Chibisov jumped up in fear, sleepy, rumpled, his hat with earflaps pulled low and tied with ribbons under his chin. Not yet waking up from sleep, he tried to push the earflaps off his forehead, untie the ribbons, crying out incomprehensibly and timidly:

What am I? No way, fell asleep? It literally stunned me into unconsciousness. I apologize, Comrade Lieutenant! Wow, I was chilled to the bones in my drowsiness!..

“We fell asleep and let the whole car get cold,” Kuznetsov said reproachfully.

“I didn’t mean to, Comrade Lieutenant, by accident, without intent,” Chibisov muttered. - It knocked me down...

Then, without waiting for Kuznetsov’s orders, he fussed around with excessive cheerfulness, grabbed a board from the floor, broke it over his knee and began to push the fragments into the stove. At the same time, stupidly, as if his sides were itching, he moved his elbows and shoulders, often bending down, busily looking into the ash pit, where the fire was creeping in with lazy reflections; Chibisov's revived, soot-stained face expressed conspiratorial servility.

Now, Comrade Lieutenant, I’ll get you warm! Let's heat it up, it will be smooth in the bathhouse. I myself am frozen because of the war! Oh, how cold I am, every bone aches - there are no words!..

Kuznetsov sat down opposite the open stove door. The orderly's exaggeratedly deliberate fussiness, this obvious hint of his past, was unpleasant to him. Chibisov was from his platoon. And the fact that he, with his immoderate diligence, always trouble-free, lived for several months in German captivity, and from the first day of his appearance in the platoon he was constantly ready to serve everyone, which aroused wary pity for him.

Chibisov gently, womanishly, sank onto his bunk, his sleepless eyes blinking.

So we're going to Stalingrad, Comrade Lieutenant? According to the reports, what a meat grinder there is! Aren't you afraid, Comrade Lieutenant? Nothing?

“We’ll come and see what kind of meat grinder it is,” Kuznetsov responded sluggishly, peering into the fire. - What, are you afraid? Why did you ask?

Yes, one might say, I don’t have the fear that I had before,” Chibisov answered falsely cheerfully and, sighing, put his small hands on his knees, spoke in a confidential tone, as if wanting to convince Kuznetsov: “After our people freed me from captivity.” , believed me, Comrade Lieutenant. And I spent three whole months, like a puppy in shit, with the Germans. They believed... The war is so huge, different people is fighting. How can you immediately believe? - Chibisov glanced cautiously at Kuznetsov; he was silent, pretending to be busy with the stove, warming himself with its living warmth: he concentratedly clenched and unclenched his fingers over the open door. - Do you know how I was captured, Comrade Lieutenant?.. I didn’t tell you, but I want to tell you. The Germans drove us into a ravine. Near Vyazma. And when their tanks came close and surrounded us, and we no longer had any shells, the regimental commissar jumped onto the top of his “emka” with a pistol and shouted: “ Better death than to be captured by fascist bastards!” - and shot himself in the temple. It even splashed from my head. And the Germans are running towards us from all sides. Their tanks are strangling people alive. Here is... the colonel and someone else...

And what's next? - asked Kuznetsov.

I couldn't shoot myself. They crowded us into a heap, shouting “Hyunda hoh.” And they took...

“I see,” said Kuznetsov with that serious intonation that clearly said that in Chibisov’s place he would have acted completely differently. - So, Chibisov, they shouted “Hende hoch” - and you handed over your weapons? Did you have any weapons?

Chibisov answered, timidly defending himself with a tense half-smile:

You are very young, Comrade Lieutenant, you have no children, no family, one might say. Parents I guess...

What do children have to do with it? - Kuznetsov said with embarrassment, noticing the quiet, guilty expression on Chibisov’s face, and added: “It doesn’t matter at all.”

How can he not, Comrade Lieutenant?

Well, maybe I didn’t put it that way... Of course, I don’t have children.

Chibisov was twenty years older than him - “father”, “daddy”, the oldest in the platoon. He was completely subordinate to Kuznetsov on duty, but Kuznetsov, now constantly remembering the two lieutenant’s cubes in his buttonholes, which immediately burdened him with new responsibility after college, still felt insecure every time talking with Chibisov, who had lived his life.

Are you awake, lieutenant, or are you imagining things? Is the stove burning? - a sleepy voice sounded overhead.

A commotion was heard on the upper bunks, then senior sergeant Ukhanov, the commander of the first gun from Kuznetsov’s platoon, jumped heavily, like a bear, to the stove.

Freeze as hell! Are you warming yourself, Slavs? - Ukhanov asked, yawning protractedly. - Or do you tell fairy tales?

Yuri Bondarev

HOT SNOW

Chapter first

After the stop in Saratov, it became clear to everyone that the division was urgently being transferred to Stalingrad, and not to the Western Front, as was initially assumed; and now Kuznetsov knew that the journey remained for several hours. And, pulling the hard, unpleasantly damp collar of his overcoat over his cheek, he could not warm himself up, gain warmth in order to sleep: there was a piercing blow through the invisible cracks of the swept window, icy drafts walked through the bunks.

“That means I won’t see my mother for a long time,” thought Kuznetsov, shrinking from the cold, “they drove us past...”.

“I’ll write to her,” Kuznetsov thought with a suddenly aggravated feeling of loneliness, “and I’ll explain everything. After all, we haven’t seen each other for nine months...”

He freed himself from the cold, prickly tightness of his place, jumped off the bunk, feeling that he needed to warm up by the stove: his back was completely numb.

Chibisov! - Kuznetsov called and opened the door of the stove, which wafted out a barely perceptible warmth from inside. - Everything went out, Chibisov!

There was no answer.

Orderly, do you hear?

What am I? No way, fell asleep? It literally stunned me into unconsciousness. I apologize, Comrade Lieutenant! Wow, I was chilled to the bones in my drowsiness!..

“We fell asleep and let the whole car get cold,” Kuznetsov said reproachfully.

“I didn’t mean to, Comrade Lieutenant, by accident, without intent,” Chibisov muttered. - It knocked me down...

Now, Comrade Lieutenant, I’ll get you warm! Let's heat it up, it will be smooth in the bathhouse. I myself am frozen because of the war! Oh, how cold I am, every bone aches - there are no words!..

Kuznetsov sat down opposite the open stove door. The orderly's exaggeratedly deliberate fussiness, this obvious hint of his past, was unpleasant to him. Chibisov was from his platoon. And the fact that he, with his immoderate diligence, always reliable, lived for several months in German captivity, and from the first day of his appearance in the platoon was constantly ready to serve everyone, aroused wary pity for him.

Chibisov gently, womanishly, sank onto his bunk, his sleepless eyes blinking.

So we're going to Stalingrad, Comrade Lieutenant? According to the reports, what a meat grinder there is! Aren't you afraid, Comrade Lieutenant? Nothing?

“We’ll come and see what kind of meat grinder it is,” Kuznetsov responded sluggishly, peering into the fire. - What, are you afraid? Why did you ask?

Yes, one might say, I don’t have the fear that I had before,” Chibisov answered falsely cheerfully and, sighing, put his small hands on his knees, spoke in a confidential tone, as if wanting to convince Kuznetsov: “After our people freed me from captivity.” , believed me, Comrade Lieutenant. And I spent three whole months, like a puppy in shit, with the Germans. They believed... It’s such a huge war, different people are fighting. How can you immediately believe? - Chibisov glanced cautiously at Kuznetsov; he was silent, pretending to be busy with the stove, warming himself with its living warmth: he concentratedly clenched and unclenched his fingers over the open door. - Do you know how I was captured, Comrade Lieutenant?.. I didn’t tell you, but I want to tell you. The Germans drove us into a ravine. Near Vyazma. And when their tanks came close, surrounded, and we no longer had any shells, the regimental commissar jumped onto the top of his “emka” with a pistol, shouting: “Better death than being captured by the fascist bastards!” - and shot himself in the temple. It even splashed from my head. And the Germans are running towards us from all sides. Their tanks are strangling people alive. Here is... the colonel and someone else...

And what's next? - asked Kuznetsov.

I couldn't shoot myself. They crowded us into a heap, shouting “Hyunda hoh.” And they took...

Chibisov answered, timidly defending himself with a tense half-smile:

You are very young, Comrade Lieutenant, you have no children, no family, one might say. Parents I guess...

What do children have to do with it? - Kuznetsov said with embarrassment, noticing the quiet, guilty expression on Chibisov’s face, and added: “It doesn’t matter at all.”

How can he not, Comrade Lieutenant?

Well, maybe I didn’t put it that way... Of course, I don’t have children.

Are you awake, lieutenant, or are you imagining things? Is the stove burning? - a sleepy voice sounded overhead.

A commotion was heard on the upper bunks, then senior sergeant Ukhanov, the commander of the first gun from Kuznetsov’s platoon, jumped heavily, like a bear, to the stove.

The action of the work takes place in war time. Colonel Deev's division is sent to Stalingrad to repel the enemy group. Many days and nights there is a battle going on. During the battle, many German and Soviet soldiers die.

The new army is led by General Bessonov, Cruel person. He thinks that his son died during the battle and blames himself for this. Vesnin learns that the general's son is alive and is in a German hospital, but does not dare to inform Bessonov about this. Vesnin dies and the general does not know the truth about his child. Soviet soldiers still managed to repel the enemies. The general presented orders and medals to the soldiers for the courage and heroism they showed in battle.

The work teaches that it is necessary to remain human in any situation, to have a feeling of pity even in wartime. Teaches patriotism, devotion, camaraderie.

Read the summary Bondarev's Hot Snow

The events of the work unfold during the Great Patriotic War in 1942. Colonel Deev's division was constantly sent to guard Stalingrad. The division included a battery under the close leadership of Lieutenant Drozdovsky. The platoon was led by Kuznetsov, who had previously studied with Drozdov at the same school.

The platoon consisted of 12 soldiers, among whom Nechaev, Chibisov and Ukhanov stood out.

Sergeant Ukhanov worked in the police before the war, then received his education at the Aktobe School, where his commanders studied. Once Ukhanov left the platoon without permission and returned through the toilet window; the head of his division personally saw all this. After this, one could no longer dream of becoming an officer. Drozdovsky neglected Ukhanov, but Kuznetsov treated him well.

Nechaev was a sailor in peacetime and did not miss a single skirt. Even while in the service, he shows sympathy for Zoya Elagina, the medical instructor of the battery. The girl was pretty and attracted the attention of many men. Especially during wartime, when there was a shortage of women.

Chibisov was captured by the Nazis, so many do not trust him and cast contemptuous glances at him.

One day he arrived at Deev’s platoon with some unfamiliar general. Later it turned out that this was General Bessonov Pyotr Aleksandrovich.

Since the military kitchen lagged behind the soldiers, the military was forced to use snow instead of water.

By order of Stalin, the division led by Deev was to be sent south to fight the German military group "Goth". Bessonov P.A. was appointed commander-in-chief of the new army.

The lieutenant general was very worried after the death of his only son, who died at the front. His wife Olga repeatedly urged him to take his son into her service, but the father did not want to impose himself. After what happened, of course, he was very sorry.

In November, the battle of the Stalingrad and Don fronts against the Nazis was fought. Hitler ordered Operation Winter Storm to begin. Its essence was to German troops They surrounded Don. After half a month, the enemies were 45 km from the city. Now Bessonov wanted to detain the Germans, who were very close to Stalingrad. The general's army received support from a tank division.

Deev's division was diligently preparing for the meeting with the fascists. Kuznetsov felt nostalgia for his native land, for close people. He imagined how he would bring Zoya to his cozy house.

The girl was left alone with Drozdovsky. There was love between them, but the commander carefully hid his relationship from others. Because he was afraid that Zoya might betray him, like his late parents did. He wanted his beloved to prove her devotion to him, but Zoya simply could not do some things.

Many of our soldiers died in the first battle. Despite this, General Bessonov ordered not to retreat, but to fight until victory, while he did not send new troops, leaving them in reserve to finish off the enemy. Vesnin now understood why Bessonov was considered a cruel person.

The general was informed that the Russian army was surrounded by fascist troops.

A man came from counterintelligence and gave Vesnin a letter from the Germans, which contained a photo of Bessonov’s son and indicated that he was in their hospital. But Vesnin could not believe the young man’s betrayal and did not yet convey the message to the lieutenant general.

Vesnin died while performing his official duties, and Bessonov never found out that his son was alive.

The battle began again. Chibisov killed a man, mistaking him for an enemy. Then it turned out that it was our intelligence officer.

After some time, Drozdovsky arrived with Zoya and Rubin. All together they went to help the scout. They were noticed by the Nazis, who began shelling. As a result, Zoya was injured, and Drozdovsky was shell-shocked. They wanted to save the girl, but did not have time. Kuznetsov was upset, he cried and blamed the commander for what happened.

In the evening, the general learned from a German intelligence officer that they had exhausted all their reserves. On the same day, Bessonov learned of Vesnin’s death.

The general gave the order to attack the Germans. At that moment, one of the soldiers found a photograph of Victor, Bessonov’s son, but was afraid to give it away.

The finishing moment has arrived. The Nazis began to retreat back, and Soviet troops surrounded them. Bessonov took the awards and went to present them to those heroes who courageously fought for their Motherland. All fighters of Kuznetsov's platoon received medals.

The fight continued. Kuznetsov’s friends sat and drank alcoholic drinks, putting medals in them...

Picture or drawing Hot snow

Summary of Goncharov Frigate Pallas

This story tells how Goncharov traveled for three long years from 1852 to 1855. First, the author describes how he wants to publish his diary entries, either as a traveler or as a navigator.