Hello Guest
Register| Login
ATTENTION! When using any source from this site, www.ossetians.com MUST be cited in your work!
Èðîí Ðóññêèé English



Ïðîåêò ïî èñòîðèè è êóëüòóðå Îñåòèè è îñåòèí - iriston.com iudzinad.ru





Rambler's Top100 Èíäåêñ öèòèðîâàíèÿ

Pliev Issa
< back  Comment to news (0)      Printversion of article

Issa Aleksandrovich Pliev  

(1903-1979)  

One of the most distinguished Soviet military commanders. 

Army General, two times honored with Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Mongolia  

 

 
Issa Pliev was born in Old Batako, North Ossetia. His father trying to earn money for his family died in one of the American mines. So, teenager Issa took over the house, taking care of his Mom, brother and two sisters. It inculcated in him hardworking traits and the call of duty for the rest of his life. 

In 1922 he joined the Red Army forces, and was on this service for over 57 years. The commanders directed talented, smart and initiative Issa to the Cavalry School. Though later he completed full courses in Frunze Military Academy and Academy of General Stuff, this Cavalry School gave him the first military knowledge and skills.  

Since then Issa Pliev came through the long way of military service, through the wars and political conflicts, achieving the outstanding heights and earning the nation-wide respect. Here are some of his career steps.  

1939-1941, Commander of the Cavalry Regiment 

1941 - Commanding Officer 50th Cavalry Division 

1941 - Commanding Officer 3rd Guards Cavalry Division 

1941- 1942 Commanding Officer II Guards Cavalry Corps 

1942 - Commanding Officer V Cavalry Corps 

1942 - Commanding Officer III Guards Cavalry Corps 

1943 - Deputy Commanding Officer 5th Guards Tank Army 

1943 – 1944 Commanding Officer IV Guards Cavalry Corps 

1944 – 1945 Commanding Officer 1st Guards Mechanized-Cavalry Group, Far East 

1955 – 1958 Deputy Commander in Chief North Caucasian Military District 

1958 - 1968 - Commander in Chief North Caucasian Military District 

1962 – Military Adviser in Cuba, Commander of the Soviet Military Forces during the Caribbean crisis.  

1968 - Inspector Ministry of Defense 

 

There is no possibility in this project for presenting all heroic deeds and battles of general Pliev during the World War 2. There are many books and articles written on this issue. Here is one episode, which reflects the skills and talent of Pliev as a brave and skilled commander. 

 

“Fulfilling the order, cavalry regiments secretly approached their opponents from the shore of Lake Mezh, crashing the German front. Streaming forward they then attacked the back end. That night a lot of other garrisons where destroyed. The Germans then started to panic. With the single groups, cavalry squadrons and regiments the Cossacks bursted into the stuff locations, and back areas of the German forces. They crashed the enemy’s transportation, blew up bridges and destroyed communication systems. The offense of Plievs troops was so sudden, powerful and destructive that the German command thought that the whole cavalry army was attacking their back areas. The pressure made the Nazis transfer the large amounts of infantry and tanks from the front to the back ends in order to defend them from Pliev’s troops. This is how one of the most significant and hardest tasks was handled by the group of General Issa Pliev.” 

Along with his Cossacks Pliev victoriously went through thousands of kilometers of Soviet territory and Eastern Europe, crashing the fascist forces in bloody mortal combats.  

When the liberation mission at the West was over and the Nazi regime fell, the other battle was just about to start. According to the allies’ agreement, the Soviet Union entered the war at the Far East against Japanese militarists and their allies.  

In the summer of 1945, Pliev arrived in Mongolia and started to form the joined Soviet-Mongolian Cavalry-Tank Group. A very complicated task was assigned to the group. Defending the right wing of Soviet Zabaykalsky Front and cutting off the Japanese Kvantun Army from the forces located in Northern China, Pliev’s troops had to go more than a thousand kilometers fighting the Japanese in bloody combats. Besides that, the path lay through the red – hot sands of desert Goby and narrow mountain trails of Big Khingan.  

The heroic raid successfully ended with the taking of the strategically vital city Zhekhe and brought the Cossacks as well as their brave commander glory and honor. Pliev was honored for the second time with the highest honorary title – Hero of the Soviet Union. 

He also held six “Lenin’s Orders” and 8 other orders. There are many well-known commanders in USSR and other countries who admired his outstanding courage and decisiveness.  

In July-August 1962 the American Intelligence found out that the Soviet Union supplied Cuba with 42 missiles which could carry the nuclear heads and were able to reach the American cities. On October 22, President Kennedy in his TV speech exposed the real situation and warned about how serious the consequences might be. He ordered to stop and examine all ships going to Cuba. Later the American spy - plane was taken down above Cuba with a Soviet anti-aircraft missile. The world found itself on the edge of the nuclear catastrophe – the Third World War. Any minor mistake from one of the opponents could lead to destruction of World civilization.  

In this situation General Pliev was directed to Cuba as the Soviet Military Mission commander. Today we can think differently about that political and military confrontation as well as the opponents. But the fact that Pliev was appointed to the key role of military commander tells us about the magnitude of this person.  

Te folowing was taken from the American sources: 

“…at no time during the crisis did Pliev have authority to order the use of either medium-range or tactical nuclear missiles, but it is now known that several weeks before the crisis—in the late summer of 1962—Malinovskii had considered the possibility of giving Pliev pre-delegated authority to order the use of tactical missiles against invading U.S. troops if Pliev’s lines of communication with Moscow had been severed and all other means of defense against an invasion had proven insufficient. A written order to this effect was prepared on 8 September 1962.”  

Issa Pliev was a great son of his Ossetian nation, and our people will always remember him and his extraordinary contribution in the Soviet military development. 



 Comment to news (0)      Printversion of article
 
Outstanding Ossetians