It is believed that Soviet troops were introduced into the territory of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan (DRA) at the request of the then government. Trying to insure against the appearance of hostile forces on its borders, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU decided to meet the neighbors halfway and in December 1979 to introduce a limited contingent of its troops into the republic. Initially, no one in the USSR counted on many years of opposition, but they had to fight for 10 years.
Mujahideen (rebels) fought with government troops and units of the Soviet army - the so-called Afghans and other foreigners who joined armed formations and received special training on the territory of neighboring Pakistan. Their sponsors were the United States, along with some Middle Eastern countries. With their help, the Mujahideen were armed, equipped, and provided financial support. This operation was called "Cyclone".
Prologue
In December 1987, one of the units of the government troops of the DRA was blocked in the border city of Pakistan with Khost (Paktia province). After the departure of Soviet soldiers from these places, local troops were unable toresist the strong onslaught of well-armed and trained bands of Mujahideen. As a result, they not only lost control of the Khost-Gardez road, but were also blocked in Khost itself. The command of the 40th Army decided to help the encircled allies by delivering weapons, ammunition and food by air. Subsequently, the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces decided to conduct a military operation "Magistral" to unblock Khost and the road adjacent to it.
It should be noted that this operation was carried out brilliantly. Even before the new year, both the city and the highway were taken under the control of our troops, and on December 30, 1987, the first supply columns appeared on the road.
Component of the "Highway"
The battle at height 3234 (1988) was one of the components of the operation "Magistral". The fact is that in this mountainous area, this road was the only link connecting the region with the mainland, so it was heavily guarded.
The posted checkpoints and other types of outposts were constantly subjected to massive shelling and attacks by the Mujahideen. The battle for height 3234 described below has become the most famous in Russia. First of all, thanks to the film "9th Company", filmed by F. Bondarchuk.
Approximate chronology of events
The battle at height 3234 took place a few kilometers southwest of the middle of the Khost-Gardez road. The 9th Airborne Company of the 345th Regiment, consisting of 39 people, led by Senior Lieutenant Sergei Tkachev, was sent to defend it. As a reinforcement, there was a heavy machine gun with a calculation inled by senior sergeant V. Aleksandrov.
To a large extent, the battle for Hill 3234 turned out to be won thanks to the work carried out: trenches, dugouts, communication passages were dug in a short time, areas of the probable approach of the enemy were mined, and there was a minefield in the south side.
The start of the battle. First attack
So, in the early morning of January 7, a defensive battle was launched at a height of 3234. Without any reconnaissance, as they say, impudently, the rebels launched the first attack, during which they tried to immediately shoot down the outposts established here and open their way to road. However, they miscalculated. The strong engineering structures built by the paratroopers and the resistance offered did not leave any chance for the transience of the battle. The Mujahideen realized that this nut was too strong for them.
New offensive wave
At 15.30, the battle at height 3234 continued with shelling, in which grenade launchers, mortars, and recoilless rifles were used. Even several dozens of rocket explosions were noticed. Under the cover of shelling, the Mujahideen were able to get close to the positions of the company by 200 meters unnoticed and attack from both sides at the same time. However, our fighters were able to fight back. The Mujahideen had to retreat.
However, the respite was short-lived. Having regrouped and received reinforcements, they continued the battle for height 3234 (photo below). It started already at 16.30 and turned out to be more difficult. To coordinate the attack, the Mujahideen beganuse radios. In some areas came to hand-to-hand fights. The fight lasted for about an hour. As a result, the attackers, having lost about a dozen killed and about three dozen wounded, were forced to roll back, not getting close to our positions even a centimeter.
From our side also appeared the first losses. Both in arms and in personnel. In particular, the Utes heavy machine gun was completely disabled. Killed the commander of the calculation ml. Sergeant V. Alexandrov. During this attack on his position, the Mujahideen concentrated the fire of all their grenade launchers - he really interfered with the attackers. After the machine gun was completely broken, the commander ordered the fighters of the calculation to retreat inside the defense, while he himself remained in the masonry, covering the defense sector. At the end of the battle, the found body of Vyacheslav Aleksandrov turned out to be wounded, but the soldier’s hands still firmly held the machine gun from which he fired back. The defenders witnessed the death of a machine gunner. Subsequently, many of them said that what happened had a huge psychological impact on them.
Second attack
Feeling the weakening of the fire, less than an hour later the Mujahideen continued the battle near the height of 3234. The 9th company continued the defense. This time the area defended by the platoon of Art. Lieutenant Sergei Rozhkov. They managed to replace the lost heavy machine gun with the connection of regimental artillery, allocated to help the defending paratroopers. Fire spotter Ivan Babenko was able to build her work so competently that the Mujahideen had to once againtime to roll back from the positions of the defenders without s alty slurping. Anatoly Kuznetsov died during this attack.
Third attack
The long and stubborn resistance of our paratroopers drove the spooks to madness. After a short break, at 19.10 local time, the battle for height 3234 (the photo of one of the episodes is taken from F. Bondarchuk's film) was continued by massive machine-gun and grenade launcher fire. The new attack turned out to be psychological - the Mujahideen went to their full height, regardless of the losses. However, for the paratroopers, such an outburst caused only smirks on their tired faces. The third battle at height 3234 was repulsed with heavy losses for the attackers.
Fifth attack
The last attack of that day, the fifth in a row, began shortly before midnight, at 23.10. She is considered the most violent. Apparently, the attackers have undergone certain changes in command, since this time the Mujahideen prepared more carefully. Having cleared passages in the minefield, as well as using reconnoitered dead spaces, they were able to get close to the positions of our paratroopers by less than 50 meters. In some areas, opponents could even throw grenades. However, this still did not help them. The last attack of the rebels that day, like all the previous ones, was repulsed with heavy losses for the attacking side.
Last attack
The last, twelfth attack began at 3 am on January 8th. According to the prevailing situation, it was the most critical. Not only has the enemy already begun to appear oncertain areas of the territory occupied by paratroopers, so our fighters practically ran out of ammunition. The officers had already decided to call the regimental artillery fire on themselves. However, this was not required.
Salvation
The rescue came just in time. Like in the movies. The reconnaissance platoon, led by Senior Lieutenant Alexei Smirnov, who had made their way to the aid of the paratroopers, immediately entered the battle and literally swept away the Mujahideen who had burst into our positions, and the attack organized after that, jointly with the defending paratroopers, threw the enemy far away.
The arrived reinforcements, which also delivered the ammunition that the paratroopers needed so much, as well as the intensified fire of the regimental artillery, decided the outcome of the entire battle. Finally realizing that it would not be possible to take the height and get the road they needed so much, the spooks began to retreat.
End of battle
From that moment on, the battle at height 3234 could be considered over. Feeling the change in the balance of forces not in their favor, the rebels, having gathered their dead and wounded, stopped offensive operations.
According to some reports, support for the Mujahideen came even from the official armed forces of Pakistan. In particular, in the neighboring valley, which was about 40 km from height 3234, several helicopters constantly arrived throughout the battle. They delivered reinforcements and ammunition to the territory of Afghanistan, taking back the dead and wounded. Toward the end of the battle, the scouts were able to locate the helipad. It was hit by a multiple launch rocket launcher."Tornado". The hit was almost 100%. All helicopters on it were destroyed or damaged. The losses of the rebels were very sensitive. The latter fact also had a positive impact on the outcome of the battle.
The howitzer artillery battery, consisting of three D-30 howitzers and three Akatsiya self-propelled guns, provided great assistance to the defending paratroopers. In total, the gunners fired about 600 shots. The spotter, senior lieutenant Ivan Babenko, who was in the ranks of the paratroopers, at the most critical moments of the battle managed to put fire in such a way that the shells that fell close to the positions of our fighters inflicted damage only on the advancing Mujahideen. The gunners fired about 600 shots at the positions of the rebels.
Everything that happened on the battlefield was closely monitored by the nearby command, headed by the commander of the 40th Army, Lieutenant General Boris Gromov. The commander of the 345th OPDP, Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant Colonel V. Vostrotin personally reported to him about all the ups and downs of the battle.
To the results of the fight
The paratroopers of the 9th company became the heroes of this day. They won the battle for height 3234, as they say, outright. Having defended their positions, the guys became real heroes not only of the Soviet army, but also of the army of the Republic of Afghanistan. The battle for Hill 3234 has been included in many textbooks as an example of competent tactical actions and courage.
After all, 39 paratroopers, supported by regimental artillery, not only held out against200 (according to some sources - 400) Mujahideen for more than 12 hours, having suffered minimal losses, but also forced the latter to retreat.
Yes, that's right. In the film “9th Company”, the battle for height 3234, the missing, to put it mildly, is not shown quite reliably. However, let's not judge this too harshly. It's still a movie. According to the film, only one person survived. In fact, only 6 people died, 28 people received various injuries, 9 of which were severe.
All paratroopers of the 9th company for the battle at height 3234 were awarded military awards - the Order of the Red Star and the Red Banner of War. The commander of the calculation of a heavy machine gun, Junior Sergeant V. A. Aleksandrov and Private A. A. Melnikov were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).
All the Mujahideen who attacked Hill 3234 were wearing black uniforms with black-red-yellow stripes on the sleeves - the distinctive sign of the Black Stork detachment. According to the encyclopedia, this name was used to hide a unit of Pakistani saboteur fighters. It was created in 1979 to counter the Soviet troops introduced into Afghanistan. At different times it was led by Amir Khattab, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and Osama bin Laden. By the way, the latter also joined the battle at a height of 3234 (photo of the event - in the article) and was even wounded.
According to other sources, people who committed serious crimes before Allah were hidden under this name. These include murder, theft, etc. In these cases, it was allowed to atone for one's guilt only with one's own blood. During the periodDuring the Afghan war, Europeans were seen among the participants in this unit. Most often, they traveled in Isuzu jeeps, in the back of which a heavy machine gun was installed.
Epilogue
On February 15, 1989, the last Soviet soldier left the territory of the DRA. However, this did not bring peace to the long-suffering people of the neighboring state. Despite the many operations carried out, the civil war did not stop there. However, that's another story.
