Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Mikhail Grigoryevich Yefremov (; March 11 1897,

Tarusa Tarusa () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Tarussky District in Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Oka River, northeast of Kaluga, the administrative center of the oblast. ...

Kaluga Governorate Kaluga Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Russian Empire and the Russian SFSR, which existed in 1796–1929. Its capital was Kaluga. Administrative division Kaluga Governorate consisted of the following ...

– April 19 1942, Vyazemsky District) was a Soviet military commander. He took part in the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

, joined the Russian Communist Party (b) in 1919, and became a division commander in 1921. He also became a military advisor to the National Government of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in 1928. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he commanded the

Central Front The Central Front was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War formed on July 24, 1941. The Central Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war. The first entity existed for just a month during the ...

in August 1941, and the Soviet 33rd Army from October 1941. "Lt.-Gen. Yefremov decided to personally lead the striking force of his army" when

Georgy Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( 189618 June 1974) was a Soviet military leader who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-ch ...

decided to take

Vyazma Vyazma () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District, Smolensk Oblast, Vyazemsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk, the ...

in early February 1942. General

Pavel Belov Pavel Alexeyevich Belov (Russian: Павел Алексеевич Белов; 18 February 1897 – 3 December 1963) was a Soviet Army, Soviet Army colonel Colonel general, general and a Hero of the Soviet Union. He was nicknamed the "Fox" by the ...

's Cavalry Corps was able to join them before the Germans cut them off from other advancing Soviet forces. Operating in the German rear next to

Soviet partisans Soviet partisans were members of Resistance during World War II, resistance movements that fought a Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war against Axis powers, Axis forces during World War II in the Soviet Union, the previously Territories of Poland an ...

, they were supplied by air until April when they were given permission to link up with the main Soviet forces. Most of Gen. Belov's Cavalry Corps made it to the Soviet 10th Army. However, Yefremov decided to take a shorter route which was detected by the Germans. Subsequently, the 33rd army was destroyed and he committed suicide to avoid being taken prisoner by the Germans. "Most of his heroic men fell alongside him." Yefremov was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

. A monument is dedicated to him in Vyazma.

References

1897 births 1942 deaths People from Kaluga Oblast People from Tarussky Uyezd Bolsheviks Communist Party of the Soviet Union members First convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Soviet lieutenant generals Imperial Russian Army officers Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Heroes of the Russian Federation Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Soviet military personnel who died by suicide Suicides in the Soviet Union {{Russia-mil-bio-stub

See also

References