Issa Alexandrovich Pliyev (also spelled as ''Pliev''; os, Плиты Алыксандры фырт Иссæ; russian: Исса Александрович Плиев; — 2 February 1979) was a
Soviet
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
military commander. Pliyev would rise to become the premier cavalry general of the
Soviet Army
uk, Радянська армія
, image = File:Communist star with golden border and red rims.svg
, alt =
, caption = Emblem of the Soviet Army
, start_date ...
. He became
Army General
Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the General officer#French (Revolutionary) system, French Revolutionary System.
In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of genera ...
(1962), twice
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...
(16 April 1944 and 8 September 1945),
Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic
The title Hero of the Mongolian People's Republic was the highest distinction in the Mongolian People's Republic (MPR). It was modeled on the Soviet Union's highest award, the Hero of the Soviet Union title.
History
Soon after the victory of th ...
(1971).
During World War II, Pliyev commanded several mechanized cavalry units, ranging from regiments to army corps. The military historians
David Glantz
David M. Glantz (born January 11, 1942) is an American military historian known for his books on the Red Army during World War II and as the chief editor of ''The Journal of Slavic Military Studies''.
Born in Port Chester, New York, Glantz r ...
and
Jonathan House
Jonathan M. House (born June 22, 1950) is an American military historian and author. He is a professor emeritus of military history at the United States Army Command and General Staff College. House is a leading authority on Soviet military his ...
described Pliyev as a "great practitioner of cavalry operations in adverse terrain". Pliyev became known in the West largely for his involvement in the
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...
.
Early life and career
Issa Pliyev started his military career in the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
in 1922. He graduated from the Leningrad
Cavalry
Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from "cheval" meaning "horse") are soldiers or warriors who fight mounted on horseback. Cavalry were the most mobile of the combat arms, operating as light cavalry ...
school in 1926, from the
Frunze Military Academy
The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...
in 1933 and from the
Soviet General Staff Academy
The Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (russian: Военная академия Генерального штаба Вооруженных Сил Российской Федерации) is the s ...
. He joined the Communist party in 1926.
[
Upon graduation from the Red Army ]Frunze Military Academy
The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...
he was appointed head of the operational department of the headquarters of the 5th Stavropol Cavalry Division named after M. F. Blinov in the Ukrainian Military District. Since June 1936, he has been an instructor at the staff of the Joint Military School of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army in Ulaanbaatar. Since February 1939, he commanded the 48th Cavalry Regiment of the 6th Cavalry Division of the Belarusian Special Military District. At the head of the regiment, he took part in the campaign of the Red Army in Western Belarus in September 1939.
World War II
At the start of the invasion of the Soviet Union, Pliyev commanded the 50th Cavalry Division (renamed 3rd Guards Cavalry Division). During early stages of operation Barbarossa the unit was send under the command of the 30th army then the division was moved to the 22nd Army. Later under the command of Dovator, he participated in two raids on the rear of Army Group "Center" during the Battle of Smolensk.
His unit participated in the Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...
and the Battle of Stalingrad
The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later re ...
. Pliyev served as 2nd in command under Lev Dovator
Lev Mikhaylovich Dovator ( 19 December 1941) was a famous Soviet major-general who was killed in action during World War II and posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Life
Born in 1903, Dovator came from a Belarusian Jew ...
who fought alongside Rokossovsky with the crucial 16th Army, holding the center defensive line of Moscow. In Soviet Union and Russia 28 Panfilov's men became a symbol of defense for propaganda. However, the cavalrymen of Lev Dovator were mainly forgotten even though they held their line alongside Panfilovs men. With Dovator killed in action and Belov promoted to an army commander, Pliev was able to apply deep battle operations better than any other general which eventually made him the only Soviet cavalry personnel to receive two Heroes of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...
. His valuable experience serving directly under Lev Dovator
Lev Mikhaylovich Dovator ( 19 December 1941) was a famous Soviet major-general who was killed in action during World War II and posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Life
Born in 1903, Dovator came from a Belarusian Jew ...
while planning and fighting with the best especially in the early stages of the war made him stand out among others. When more tanks were added to the cavalry corps, Pliyev became the pioneer in the newly cavalry mechanized groups who immediately proved themselves in battle. This made him well respected among his peers and soldiers.These forces along with that of Pavel Belov
Pavel Alexeyevich Belov (Russian: Павел Алексеевич Белов; 18 February 1897 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was nicknamed the "Fox" by the Germans and personally led t ...
were the most successful cavalry units of the Battle of Moscow
The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...
.
During the Battle of Stalingrad, the horsemen proved themselves once again, Pliyev's forces were the first to complete the encirclement of the German 6th Army, thus trapping 330,000 men inside the pocket. Issa would later command a cavalry-mechanized group consisting of 4th Guards Cavalry Corps and 4th Mechanized Corps during the Bereznegovatoye–Snigirevka Offensive along the Black Sea coast, as part of the 3rd Ukrainian Front
The 3rd Ukrainian Front (Russian: Третий Украинский фронт) was a Front of the Red Army during World War II.
It was founded on 20 October 1943, on the basis of a Stavka order of October 16, 1943, by renaming the Southwester ...
under Army General Rodion Malinovsky
Rodion Yakovlevich Malinovsky (russian: Родио́н Я́ковлевич Малино́вский, ukr, Родіо́н Я́кович Малино́вський ; – 31 March 1967) was a Soviet military commander. He was Marshal of the Sovi ...
.
Pliyev especially distinguished himself in the Bereznegovato-Snigireva and Odessa offensive operations conducted one after the other in March-April 1944. The cavalry-mechanized group of General Pliev, introduced into the raid on the enemy's rear in March 1944, ensured the encirclement and defeat of units of the 6th German Army. In April, the cavalry mechanized group forced the Southern Bug River, cut the enemy's main communications and contributed to the capture of a number of large settlements by the front's troops, including the city of Odessa.
By the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 16, 1944, Lieutenant General Issa Alexandrovich Pliev was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal for his skillful command of the troops and personal courage and heroism.
During Operation Bagration
Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп ...
in the summer of 1944, part of the 1st Belorussian Front
The 1st Belorussian Front (Russian: Пéрвый Белорусский фронт, ''Perviy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian") was a major formation of the Soviet Army during World War II, being equivalent to a Western army ...
, Pliyev's cavalry-mechanized group attacked towards Slutsk. According to Glantz and House, the unit was highly successful in exploiting the operational breakthrough. In the fall of 1944, he commanded a cavalry-mechanized group consisting of two divisions during the Battle of Debrecen
The Battle of Debrecen, called by the Red Army the ''Debrecen Offensive Operation'', was a battle taking place 6–29 October 1944 on the Eastern Front in Hungary during World War II.
The offensive was conducted by the 2nd Ukrainian Front ...
. The cavalry mechanized group was returned to the 3rd Ukrainian Front, where on October 3, 1944, General Pliyev was put in charge of: the 4th and 6th Guards Cavalry Corps and the 7th Mechanized Corps. Such a units were created with the aim of a deep breakthrough into the enemy rear in the Debrecen operation on the territory of Hungary. The task of the breakthrough was completed, but then the enemy managed to cut the communications of the group. For more than 10 days, the fighters fought in the enemy's rear, dodging enemy tank attacks and delivering unexpected retaliatory strikes. Some of the occupied Hungarian cities had to be abandoned, but in the end the situation was turned in favor of the Soviet troops and Debrecen was taken.
The operations of Lieutenant General Pliev's 1st Guards Cavalry Mechanized Group
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
demonstrates its usefulness as it fought through Ukraine, Eastern Europe and into Germany.[John S Harrel]
He ended the war in command of the Soviet-Mongolian Cavalry-Mechanized Group of the Transbaikal front
The Transbaikal Front (russian: Забайкальский фронт) was a front formed on September 15, 1941, on the basis of the Transbaikal Military District. Initially, it included the 17th and 36th armies, but in August 1942 the 12th Air ...
in Manchuria
Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer Manc ...
, fighting against the Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
ese Kwantung Army
''Kantō-gun''
, image = Kwantung Army Headquarters.JPG
, image_size = 300px
, caption = Kwantung Army headquarters in Hsinking, Manchukuo
, dates = April ...
. For his success in defeating the Kwantung Army, he was awarded the second Gold Star Medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
Post-war
After the war, Pliyev continued his career in the military, and took command of the Stavropol Military District
The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces, which became in 2010 the Southern Military District and lately also included the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla.
It comprised the Republic of Adygeya, ...
in February 1946. In June he became commander of the 9th Mechanized Army, stationed in Romania with the Southern Group of Forces
Southern may refer to:
Businesses
* China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China
* Southern Airways, defunct US airline
* Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US
* Southern Airways Express, ...
. He commanded 13th Army between February 1947 and 1949, in western Ukraine. Pliyev graduated from higher academic courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff in 1949, and in April took command of the 4th Army in the Transcaucasian Military District
The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia into the Soviet Union. It was disbanded by being redesignated as a Grou ...
. In June 1955, he was appointed First Deputy commander of the North Caucasus Military District
The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces, which became in 2010 the Southern Military District and lately also included the Black Sea Fleet and Caspian Flotilla.
It comprised the Republic of Adygeya, ...
, succeeding to command of the district in April 1958.
On 27 April 1962 Pliyev was promoted to Army General
Army general is the highest ranked general officer in many countries that use the General officer#French (Revolutionary) system, French Revolutionary System.
In countries that adopt the general officer four rank system, it is rank of genera ...
. In June his troops took part in suppressing Novocherkassk riots.[ During the ]Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...
he was the commander of Group of Soviet forces as part of the Operation Anadyr
Operation Anadyr (russian: Анадырь) was the code name used by the Soviet Union for its Cold War secret operation in 1962 of deploying ballistic missiles, medium-range bombers, and a division of mechanized infantry to Cuba to create an ar ...
in Cuba from July 1962 to May 1963.[ After returning from Cuba, he assumed command of the North Caucasus Military District again.]
In June 1968, Pliyev became an advisor for the Ministry of Defense of the USSR
The Ministry of Defense (Minoboron; russian: Министерство обороны СССР) was a government ministry in the Soviet Union. The first Minister of Defense was Nikolai Bulganin, starting 1953. The Krasnaya Zvezda (Red Star) was th ...
's Group of Inspectors General
The Group of Inspectors General of the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union (), colloquially known as the paradise group, was a body of the Soviet Ministry of Defense established in 1958. A sinecure position for semi-retired senior officers, th ...
, a position for elderly senior officers.[ He lived in ]Rostov-on-Don
Rostov-on-Don ( rus, Ростов-на-Дону, r=Rostov-na-Donu, p=rɐˈstof nə dɐˈnu) is a port city and the administrative centre of Rostov Oblast and the Southern Federal District of Russia. It lies in the southeastern part of the East Eu ...
and died on 6 February 1979 in Moscow. Pliyev was buried in the Walk of Fame in Vladikavkaz
Vladikavkaz (russian: Владикавка́з, , os, Дзæуджыхъæу, translit=Dzæwdžyqæw, ;), formerly known as Ordzhonikidze () and Dzaudzhikau (), is the capital city of the North Ossetia-Alania, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania, Ru ...
.
Awards
Pliyev was awarded five Orders of Lenin
The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...
, three Orders of the Red Banner
The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet Union, Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War b ...
, two Orders of Suvorov (1st Class), Order of Kutuzov
The Order of Kutuzov (russian: орден Кутузова ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established du ...
(1st Class), numerous medal
A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be int ...
s and nine foreign orders. He was decorated twice Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...
.
Books authored
*Плиев И.А.. Через Гоби и Хинган (''Through the Gobi Desert and the Khingan Mountains''). 1965.
*Плиев И.А.. Конец Квантунской армии (''The End of the Kwantung Army''). 1969
See also
* Soviet invasion of Manchuria
The Soviet invasion of Manchuria, formally known as the Manchurian strategic offensive operation (russian: Манчжурская стратегическая наступательная операция, Manchzhurskaya Strategicheskaya Nastu ...
* Pavel Belov
Pavel Alexeyevich Belov (Russian: Павел Алексеевич Белов; 18 February 1897 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet Army colonel general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was nicknamed the "Fox" by the Germans and personally led t ...
* Lev Dovator
Lev Mikhaylovich Dovator ( 19 December 1941) was a famous Soviet major-general who was killed in action during World War II and posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Life
Born in 1903, Dovator came from a Belarusian Jew ...
References
*Harrel, John (2019). Soviet Cavalry Operations During The Second World War: The Genesis Of The Operational Manoeuvre Group. Pen & Sword Military.
Cited sources
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pliyev, Issa
1903 births
1979 deaths
People from North Ossetia–Alania
People from Terek Oblast
Ossetian people
Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union candidate members
Second convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities
Third convocation members of the Soviet of the Union
Fourth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union
Fifth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities
Sixth convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities
Seventh convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities
Army generals (Soviet Union)
People of the Soviet invasion of Poland
Soviet military personnel of World War II
Military Academy of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union alumni
Heroes of the Soviet Union
Recipients of the Order of Lenin
Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner
Recipients of the Order of Suvorov, 1st class
Recipients of the Order of Kutuzov, 1st class
Commanders of the Legion of Merit
Frunze Military Academy alumni