Hot Snow. Analysis "Hot snow" Bondarev Hot snow brief description

Summary of Y. Bondarev's novel "Hot Snow".

The division of Colonel Deev, which included an artillery battery under the command of Lieutenant Drozdovsky, among many others, was transferred to Stalingrad, where the main forces of the Soviet Army accumulated. The battery included a platoon commanded by Lieutenant Kuznetsov. Drozdovsky and Kuznetsov graduated from the same school in Aktobe. At the school, Drozdovsky "stands out for his underlined, as if innate bearing, the imperious expression of a thin, pale face - the best cadet in the division, a favorite of combatant commanders." And now, after graduating from college, Drozdovsky became Kuznetsov's closest commander.

Kuznetsov's platoon consisted of 12 people, among whom were Chibisov, the gunner of the first gun Nechaev and senior sergeant Ukhanov. Chibisov managed to visit German captivity. They looked askance at people like him, so Chibisov tried his best to oblige. Kuznetsov believed that Chibisov should have committed suicide instead of surrendering, but Chibisov was over forty and at that moment he only thought about his children.

Nechaev, a former sailor from Vladivostok, was an incorrigible womanizer and, on occasion, liked to court Zoya Elagina, the battery medical instructor.

Before the war, Sergeant Ukhanov served in the criminal investigation department, then he graduated from the Aktobe military school together with Kuznetsov and Drozdovsky. Once Ukhanov was returning from AWOL through the toilet window, stumbled upon the division commander, who was sitting on the push and could not help laughing. A scandal broke out, because of which Ukhanov was not given an officer's rank. For this reason, Drozdovsky treated Ukhanov with disdain. Kuznetsov accepted the sergeant as an equal.

Medical instructor Zoya at every stop resorted to the cars that housed Drozdovsky's battery. Kuznetsov guessed that Zoya had only come to see the battery commander.

At the last stop, Deev, the commander of the division, which included Drozdovsky's battery, arrived at the echelon. Next to Deev, “leaning on a stick, walked a lean, slightly uneven in gait unfamiliar general.<…>It was the commander of the army, Lieutenant General Bessonov. The general's eighteen-year-old son went missing on the Volkhov front, and now every time the general's eyes fell on some young lieutenant, he remembered his son.

At this stop, Deev's division unloaded from the echelon and moved on horse-drawn. In Kuznetsov's platoon, the horses were driven by Rubin and Sergunenkov. At sunset we made a short halt. Kuznetsov guessed that Stalingrad was somewhere behind him, but did not know that their division was moving "towards the German tank divisions that had launched an offensive in order to release the thousands of Paulus army surrounded in the Stalingrad area."

The kitchens fell behind and got lost somewhere in the rear. People were hungry and instead of water they collected trampled, dirty snow from the roadsides. Kuznetsov spoke about this with Drozdovsky, but he sharply reined in him, saying that they were on an equal footing at the school, and now he is the commander. "Every word of Drozdovsky<…>raised in Kuznetsov such an irresistible, deaf resistance, as if what Drozdovsky did, said, ordered him was a stubborn and calculated attempt to remind him of his power, to humiliate him. The army moved on, in every way cursing the elders who had disappeared somewhere.

While Manstein's tank divisions began to break through to the grouping of Colonel General Paulus surrounded by our troops, the newly formed army, which included Deev's division, was thrown south by Stalin's order, towards the German shock group "Goth". This new army was commanded by General Pyotr Aleksandrovich Bessonov, a middle-aged, reserved man. “He did not want to please everyone, did not want to seem like a pleasant conversationalist for everyone. Such a petty game in order to win sympathy always disgusted him.

Recently, it seemed to the general that "the whole life of his son passed monstrously imperceptibly, slipped past him." All his life, moving from one military unit to another, Bessonov thought that he would still have time to rewrite his life cleanly, but in a hospital near Moscow, he “for the first time got the idea that his life, the life of a military man, probably, could only be in a single version, which he chose once and for all." It was there that his last meeting with his son Victor, a freshly minted infantry junior lieutenant, took place. Bessonov's wife, Olga, asked him to take his son to him, but Victor refused, and Bessonov did not insist. Now he was tormented by the realization that he could have saved his only son, but did not. "He felt more and more acutely that the fate of his son was becoming his father's cross."

Even during a reception at Stalin's, where Bessonov was invited before a new appointment, the question arose about his son. Stalin was well aware that Viktor was part of the army of General Vlasov, and Bessonov himself was familiar with him. Nevertheless, Stalin approved the appointment of Bessonov as a general of the new army.

From November 24 to November 29, the troops of the Don and Stalingrad fronts fought against the encircled German group. Hitler ordered Paulus to fight to the last soldier, then an order was received for Operation Winter Thunderstorm - a breakthrough of the encirclement by the German Don army under the command of Field Marshal Manstein. On December 12, Colonel-General Goth struck at the junction of the two armies of the Stalingrad Front. By December 15, the Germans had advanced forty-five kilometers towards Stalingrad. The introduced reserves could not change the situation - the German troops stubbornly made their way to the encircled grouping of Paulus. The main task of Bessonov's army, reinforced by a tank corps, was to detain the Germans and then force them to retreat. The last frontier was the Myshkova River, after which flat steppe stretched all the way to Stalingrad.

At the army command post, located in a dilapidated village, an unpleasant conversation took place between General Bessonov and a member of the military council, divisional commissar Vitaly Isaevich Vesnin. Bessonov did not trust the commissar, believed that he was sent to look after him because of a fleeting acquaintance with the traitor, General Vlasov.

Late at night, the division of Colonel Deev began to dig in on the banks of the Myshkova River. The battery of Lieutenant Kuznetsov dug guns into the frozen ground on the very bank of the river, scolding the foreman, who was a day behind the battery along with the kitchen. Sitting down to rest a bit, Lieutenant Kuznetsov remembered his native Zamoskvorechye. The lieutenant's father, an engineer, caught a cold at a construction site in Magnitogorsk and died. Mother and sister stayed at home.

Having dug in, Kuznetsov, together with Zoya, went to the command post to Drozdovsky. Kuznetsov looked at Zoya, and it seemed to him that he “saw her, Zoya,<…>in a house comfortably heated for the night, at a table covered with a clean white tablecloth for the holiday, ”in his apartment on Pyatnitskaya.

The battery commander explained the military situation and stated that he was dissatisfied with the friendship that arose between Kuznetsov and Ukhanov. Kuznetsov countered that Ukhanov could have been a good platoon leader if he had been promoted.

When Kuznetsov left, Zoya stayed with Drozdovsky. He spoke to her in the "jealous and at the same time demanding tone of a man who had the right to ask her like that." Drozdovsky was unhappy that Zoya visited Kuznetsov's platoon too often. He wanted to hide his relationship with her from everyone - he was afraid of gossip that would begin to walk around the battery and seep into the headquarters of the regiment or division. Zoya was bitter to think that Drozdovsky loved her so little.

Drozdovsky was from a family of hereditary military men. His father died in Spain, his mother died the same year. After the death of his parents, Drozdovsky did not go to an orphanage, but lived with distant relatives in Tashkent. He believed that his parents had betrayed him and was afraid that Zoya would betray him too. He demanded from Zoya evidence of her love for him, but she could not cross the last line, and this angered Drozdovsky.

General Bessonov arrived at the Drozdovsky battery, who was waiting for the return of the scouts who had set off for the "language". The general understood that the turning point of the war had come. The testimony of the "language" was supposed to provide the missing information about the reserves of the German army. The outcome of the Battle of Stalingrad depended on this.

The battle began with a Junkers raid, after which German tanks went on the attack. During the bombing, Kuznetsov remembered the gun sights - if they were broken, the battery would not be able to shoot. The lieutenant wanted to send Ukhanov, but realized that he had no right and would never forgive himself if something happened to Ukhanov. Risking his life, Kuznetsov went to the guns along with Ukhanov and found the riders Rubin and Sergunenkov there, with whom the seriously wounded scout was lying.

Having sent a scout to the OP, Kuznetsov continued the fight. Soon he no longer saw anything around him, he commanded the gun "in an evil ecstasy, in a reckless and frantic unity with the calculation." The lieutenant felt "this hatred of possible death, this fusion with the weapon, this fever of delusional rabies and only the edge of consciousness understanding what he was doing."

In the meantime, a German self-propelled gun hid behind two knocked out tanks by Kuznetsov and began firing point-blank at a neighboring gun. Assessing the situation, Drozdovsky handed two anti-tank grenades to Sergunenkov and ordered him to crawl up to the self-propelled gun and destroy it. Young and frightened, Sergunenkov died without fulfilling the order. “He sent Sergunenkov, having the right to order. And I was a witness - and for the rest of my life I will curse myself for this, ”thought Kuznetsov.

By the end of the day, it became clear that the Russian troops could not withstand the onslaught of the German army. German tanks had already broken through to the northern bank of the Myshkova River. General Bessonov did not want to send fresh troops into battle, fearing that the army would not have enough strength for a decisive blow. He ordered to fight to the last shell. Now Vesnin understood why there were rumors about Bessonov's cruelty.

Having moved to the Deeva command post, Bessonov realized that it was here that the Germans had directed the main blow. The scout found by Kuznetsov reported that two more people, along with the captured "tongue", were stuck somewhere in the German rear. Soon Bessonov was informed that the Germans had begun to surround the division.

The head of counterintelligence of the army arrived from the headquarters. He showed Vesnin a German leaflet, which contained a photograph of Bessonov's son, and told how well the son of a famous Russian military leader was being looked after in a German hospital. At the headquarters they wanted Bessnonov to stay in the army command post, under supervision. Vesnin did not believe in the betrayal of Bessonov Jr., and decided not to show this leaflet to the general for the time being.

Bessonov brought tank and mechanized corps into battle and asked Vesnin to go towards them and hurry them up. Fulfilling the request of the general, Vesnin died. General Bessonov never found out that his son was alive.

Ukhanov's only surviving gun fell silent late in the evening, when the shells obtained from other guns ran out. At this time, the tanks of Colonel-General Goth crossed the Myshkov River. With the onset of darkness, the battle began to subside behind.

Now for Kuznetsov, everything was “measured by other categories than a day ago.” Ukhanov, Nechaev and Chibisov were barely alive from fatigue. "This is the only surviving weapon<…>and there are four of them<…>were rewarded with a smiling fate, an accidental happiness to survive the day and evening of an endless battle, to live longer than others. But there was no joy in life.” They ended up behind German lines.

Suddenly, the Germans began to attack again. By the light of the rockets, they saw a human body a stone's throw from their firing platform. Chibisov shot him, mistaking him for a German. It turned out to be one of those Russian intelligence officers that General Bessonov was waiting for. Two more scouts, together with the "tongue", hid in a funnel near two wrecked armored personnel carriers.

At this time, Drozdovsky appeared at the calculation, along with Rubin and Zoya. Without looking at Drozdovsky, Kuznetsov took Ukhanov, Rubin and Chibisov and went to help the scout. Following Kuznetsov's group, Drozdovsky also got in touch with two signalers and Zoya.

A captured German and one of the scouts were found at the bottom of a large funnel. Drozdovsky ordered a search for a second scout, despite the fact that, making his way to the funnel, he attracted the attention of the Germans, and now the entire area was under machine-gun fire. Drozdovsky himself crawled back, taking with him the "language" and the surviving scout. On the way, his group came under fire, during which Zoya was seriously wounded in the stomach, and Drozdovsky was shell-shocked.

When Zoya was brought to the calculation in her unfolded overcoat, she was already dead. Kuznetsov was like in a dream, "everything that kept him in unnatural tension these days<…>suddenly relaxed in him. Kuznetsov almost hated Drozdovsky for not saving Zoya. “He cried so alone and desperately for the first time in his life. And when he wiped his face, the snow on the sleeve of the quilted jacket was hot from his tears.

Already late in the evening, Bessonov realized that the Germans could not be pushed off the northern bank of the Myshkova River. By midnight, the fighting stopped, and Bessonov wondered if this was due to the fact that the Germans used all the reserves. Finally, a "language" was delivered to the command post, which said that the Germans had indeed committed reserves to the battle. After interrogation, Bessonov was informed that Vesnin had died. Now Bessonov regretted that their relationship "through his fault, Bessonov,<…>did not look like Vesnin wanted and what they should have been.

The front commander contacted Bessonov and said that four tank divisions were successfully reaching the rear of the Don army. The general ordered the attack. Meanwhile, Bessonov's adjutant found a German leaflet among Vesnin's belongings, but did not dare to tell the general about it.

About forty minutes after the start of the attack, the battle reached a turning point. Following the battle, Bessonov could not believe his eyes when he saw that several guns had survived on the right bank. The corps brought into battle pushed the Germans to the right bank, captured the crossings and began to surround the German troops.

After the battle, Bessonov decided to drive along the right bank, taking with him all the available awards. He rewarded everyone who survived this terrible battle and the German encirclement. Bessonov "did not know how to cry, and the wind helped him, gave vent to tears of delight, sorrow and gratitude." The Order of the Red Banner was awarded to the entire crew of Lieutenant Kuznetsov. Ukhanov was hurt that Drozdovsky also got the order.

Kuznetsov, Ukhanov, Rubin and Nechaev sat and drank vodka with orders lowered into it, and the battle continued ahead.

A division of Colonel Deev was sent to Stalingrad. In its brave composition was an artillery battery, which was led by Lieutenant Drozdovsky. One of the platoons was commanded by Kuznetsov, Drozdovsky's classmate at the school.

There were twelve fighters in the Kuznetsov platoon, among whom were Ukhanov, Nechaev and Chibisov. The latter was in Nazi captivity, so he was not particularly trusted.

Nechaev used to work as a sailor and was very fond of girls. Often the guy looked after Zoya Elagina, who was a battery orderly.

Sergeant Ukhanov worked in the criminal investigation department in peacetime, and then graduated from the same educational institution as Drozdovsky and Kuznetsov. Due to one unpleasant incident, Ukhanov did not receive the rank of officer, so Drozdovsky treated the guy with disdain. Kuznetsov was friends with him.

Zoya often resorted to the trailers where the Drozdov battery was located. Kuznetsov suspected that the medical instructor had appeared in the hope of meeting with the commander.

Soon Deev arrived along with an unknown general. As it turned out, it was Lieutenant General Bessonov. He lost his son at the front and remembered him looking at the young lieutenants.

The field kitchens lagged behind, the soldiers were hungry and ate snow instead of water. Kuznetsov tried to talk about this with Drozdovsky, but he abruptly interrupted the conversation. The army began to move on, cursing the foremen who disappeared somewhere.

Stalin sent the Deevsky division to the south to detain the Nazi shock group Goth. This formed army was supposed to be led by Petr Alexandrovich Bessonov, a reserved and elderly soldier.

Bessonov was very worried about the loss of his son. The wife asked to take Victor into her army, but the young man did not want to. Pyotr Alexandrovich did not force him, and after a while he very much regretted that he had not saved his only child.

At the end of autumn, Bessonov's main goal was to detain the Nazis, who stubbornly made their way to Stalingrad. It was necessary to make the Germans retreat. A powerful tank corps was added to Bessonov's army.

At night, Deev's division began to prepare trenches on the banks of the Myshkova River. The fighters dug the frozen ground and scolded the chiefs, who fell behind the regiment along with the army kitchen. Kuznetsov recalled his native places, his sister and mother were waiting for him at home. Soon he and Zoya went to Drozdovsky. The guy liked the girl and he imagined her in his cozy house.

The medical instructor stayed face-to-face with Drozdovsky. The commander stubbornly hid their relationship from everyone - he did not want gossip and gossip. Drozdovsky believed that his dead parents had betrayed him and did not want Zoya to do the same with him. The fighter wanted the girl to prove her love, but Zoya could not afford to take some steps ...

During the first battle, "Junkers" flew in, then they began to attack fascist tanks. While the active bombardment was going on, Kuznetsov decided to use the gun sights and, together with Ukhanov, headed towards them. There, friends found riders and a dying scout.

The scout was promptly taken to the NP. Kuznetsov selflessly continued to fight. Drozdovsky gave the order to Sergunenkov to knock out a self-propelled gun and gave a couple of anti-tank grenades. The young boy failed to carry out the order and was killed along the way.

At the end of this tiring day, it became obvious that our army would not be able to hold back the onslaught of the enemy division. Nazi tanks broke through to the north of the river. General Bessonov ordered the rest to fight to the end, he did not attract new troops, leaving them for the final powerful blow. Vesnin only now realized why everyone thought the general was cruel.

The wounded scout reported that several people with "language" were in the rear of the Nazis. A little later, the general was informed that the Nazis began to surround the army

The counterintelligence commander arrived from the main headquarters. He handed Vesnin a German paper with a photo of Bessonov's son and a text describing how wonderfully he was looked after in a German military hospital. Vesnin did not believe in Victor's betrayal and did not give the leaflet to the general until he began.

Vesnin died while fulfilling Bessonov's request. The general was never able to find out that his child was alive.

The German surprise attack began again. In the rear, Chibisov shot at a man, because he mistook him for an enemy. But later it became known that it was our intelligence officer, whom Bessonov never waited for. The rest of the scouts, along with the German prisoner, hid not far from the damaged armored personnel carriers.

Soon Drozdovsky arrived with a medical instructor and Rubin. Chibisov, Kuznetsov, Ukhanov and Rubin went to help the scout. They were followed by a couple of signalers, Zoya and the commander himself.

"Language" and one scout were quickly found. Drozdovsky took them with him and gave the order to look for the second one. The Germans noticed Drozdovsky's group and fired - the girl was wounded in the abdomen, and the commander himself was shell-shocked.

Zoya was hurriedly carried to the crew, but could not be saved. Kuznetsov cried for the first time, the guy blamed Drozdovsky for what had happened.

By evening, General Bessonov realized that it was not possible to detain the Germans. But they brought a German prisoner, who said that they had to use all the reserves. When the interrogation ended, the general learned of Vesnin's death.

The front commander contacted the general, saying that the tank divisions were safely moving to the rear of the Don army. Bessonov gave the order to attack the hated enemy. But then one of the soldiers found among the belongings of the deceased Vesnin a paper with a photograph of Bessonov Jr., but he was afraid to give it to the general.

The turning point has begun. Reinforcements pushed the fascist divisions to the other side and began to surround them. After the battle, the general took various awards and went to the right bank. All those who heroically survived the battle received awards. The Order of the Red Banner went to all the soldiers of Kuznetsov. Drozdovsky was also awarded, which displeased Ukhanov.

The battle continued. Nechaev, Rubin, Ukhanov and Kuznetsov drank alcohol, dropping orders into glasses ...

During the Great Patriotic War, the writer as an artilleryman went a long way from Stalingrad to Czechoslovakia. Among Yuri Bondarev's books about the war, "Hot Snow" occupies a special place, opening up new approaches to solving the moral and psychological problems posed in his first stories - "Battalions Ask for Fire" and "Last Salvos". These three books about the war are a holistic and developing world that has reached its greatest completeness and figurative power in Hot Snow.

The events of the novel "Hot Snow" unfold near Stalingrad, south of the 6th Army of General Paulus, blockaded by Soviet troops, in the cold December 1942, when one of our armies held back in the Volga steppe the attack of the tank divisions of Field Marshal Manstein, who sought to break through the corridor to the army of Paulus and get her out of the way. The outcome of the battle on the Volga and, perhaps, even the timing of the end of the war itself largely depended on the success or failure of this operation. The duration of the novel is limited to just a few days, during which the heroes of Yuri Bondarev selflessly defend a tiny patch of land from German tanks.

In "Hot Snow" time is compressed even more densely than in the story "Battalions ask for fire." “Hot Snow” is a short march of the army of General Bessonov unloaded from the echelons and a battle that decided so much in the fate of the country; these are cold frosty dawns, two days and two endless December nights. Without lyrical digressions, as if the author's breath was caught from constant tension, the novel "Hot Snow" is distinguished by its directness, direct connection of the plot with the true events of the Great Patriotic War, with one of its decisive moments. The life and death of the heroes of the novel, their very destinies are illuminated by the alarming light of true history, as a result of which everything acquires special weight and significance.

In the novel, Drozdovsky's battery absorbs almost all of the reader's attention, the action is concentrated mainly around a small number of characters. Kuznetsov, Ukhanov, Rubin and their comrades are part of a great army, they are a people, a people, to the extent that the typified personality of the hero expresses the spiritual, moral traits of the people.

In "Hot Snow" the image of the people who went to war appears before us in a fullness of expression, unprecedented before in Yuri Bondarev, in the richness and diversity of characters, and at the same time in integrity. This image is not exhausted either by the figures of young lieutenants - commanders of artillery platoons, or by the colorful figures of those who are traditionally considered to be people from the people - like the slightly cowardly Chibisov, the calm and experienced gunner Evstigneev, or the straightforward and rude, driving Rubin; nor by senior officers, such as the division commander, Colonel Deev, or the army commander, General Bessonov. Only all together, with all the difference in ranks and ranks, they make up the image of a fighting people. The strength and novelty of the novel lies in the fact that this unity is achieved as if by itself, imprinted without any special efforts of the author - a living, moving life.

The death of heroes on the eve of victory, the criminal inevitability of death, contains a high tragedy and provokes a protest against the cruelty of the war and the forces that unleashed it. Heroes of "Hot Snow" are dying - the battery medical officer Zoya Elagina, the shy rider Sergunenkov, a member of the Military Council Vesnin, Kasymov and many others are dying ... And the war is to blame for all these deaths. Let Lieutenant Drozdovsky’s heartlessness be blamed for Sergunenkov’s death, even if the blame for Zoya’s death falls partly on him, but no matter how great Drozdovsky’s fault, they are, first of all, victims of the war.

The novel expresses the understanding of death as a violation of higher justice and harmony. Recall how Kuznetsov looks at the murdered Kasymov: “Now there was a shell box under Kasymov’s head, and his youthful, beardless face, recently alive, swarthy, turned deathly white, thinned by the terrible beauty of death, looked in surprise with moist cherry half-open eyes at his chest , on a torn to shreds, excised quilted jacket, he didn’t even understand after death how it killed him and why he couldn’t get up to the sight.

Kuznetsov feels even more acutely the irreversibility of the loss of Sergunenkov. After all, the mechanism of his death is revealed here. Kuznetsov turned out to be a powerless witness to how Drozdovsky sent Sergunenkov to certain death, and he, Kuznetsov, already knows that he will curse himself forever for what he saw, was present, but failed to change anything.

In "Hot Snow", for all the intensity of events, everything human in people, their characters do not live separately from the war, but are interconnected with it, constantly under its fire, when, it seems, one cannot even raise one's head. Usually the chronicle of battles can be retold separately from the individuality of its participants - the battle in "Hot Snow" cannot be retold except through the fate and characters of people.

The past of the characters in the novel is essential and weighty. For some it is almost cloudless, for others it is so complex and dramatic that the former drama is not left behind, pushed aside by the war, but accompanies a person in the battle southwest of Stalingrad. The events of the past determined Ukhanov's military fate: a gifted, full of energy officer who would have commanded a battery, but he is only a sergeant. The cool, rebellious character of Ukhanov also determines his movement within the novel. Chibisov's past misfortunes, which almost broke him (he spent several months in German captivity), echoed fear in someone and determined a lot in his behavior. One way or another, the past of Zoya Elagina, and Kasymov, and Sergunenkov and the unsociable Rubin slips in the novel, whose courage and loyalty to soldier's duty we will be able to appreciate only by the end of the novel.

The past of General Bessonov is especially important in the novel. The thought of a son who was taken prisoner by the Germans makes it difficult for him to stand both at headquarters and at the front. And when a fascist leaflet announcing that Bessonov's son was taken prisoner falls into the counterintelligence of the front in the hands of Lieutenant Colonel Osin, it seems that there is a threat to Bessonov's service.

Probably the most mysterious of the world of human relations in the novel is the love that arises between Kuznetsov and Zoya. The war, its cruelty and blood, its terms, overturning the usual ideas about time - it was she who contributed to such a rapid development of this love. After all, this feeling developed in those short hours of the march and battle, when there is no time for reflection and analysis of one's feelings. And it all starts with a quiet, incomprehensible jealousy of Kuznetsov for the relationship between Zoya and Drozdovsky. And soon - so little time passes - Kuznetsov is already bitterly mourning the deceased Zoya, and it is from these lines that the title of the novel is taken, when Kuznetsov wiped his face wet from tears, "the snow on the sleeve of the quilted jacket was hot from his tears."

Having been deceived at first in Lieutenant Drozdovsky, then the best cadet, Zoya throughout the novel opens up to us as a moral person, whole, ready for self-sacrifice, capable of embracing the pain and suffering of many with her heart. She seems to go through many trials, from intrusive interest to rude rejection. But her kindness, her patience and sympathy reach everyone, she is truly a sister to the soldiers. The image of Zoya somehow imperceptibly filled the atmosphere of the book, its main events, its harsh, cruel reality with a feminine principle, affection and tenderness.

One of the most important conflicts in the novel is the conflict between Kuznetsov and Drozdovsky. A lot of space has been given to this conflict, it is exposed very sharply and is easily traced from beginning to end. At first, there is a tension that goes back to the prehistory of the novel; the inconsistency of characters, manners, temperaments, even the style of speech: it seems difficult for the soft, thoughtful Kuznetsov to endure the jerky, commanding, indisputable speech of Drozdovsky. The long hours of battle, the senseless death of Sergunenkov, the mortal wound of Zoya, in which Drozdovsky is partly to blame - all this forms an abyss between the two young officers, the moral incompatibility of their existence.

In the finale, this abyss is indicated even more sharply: the four surviving gunners consecrate the newly received orders in a soldier's bowler hat, and the sip that each of them takes is, first of all, a funeral sip - it contains bitterness and grief of loss. Drozdovsky also received the order, because for Bessonov, who awarded him, he is the surviving, wounded commander of a standing battery, the general does not know about Drozdovsky's grave guilt and most likely will never know. This is also the reality of war. But it is not for nothing that the writer leaves Drozdovsky aside from those gathered at the soldier's bowler hat.

The ethical, philosophical thought of the novel, as well as its emotional intensity, reaches its highest height in the finale, when Bessonov and Kuznetsov suddenly approach each other. This is a rapprochement without close proximity: Bessonov rewarded his officer on an equal basis with others and moved on. For him, Kuznetsov is just one of those who stood to death at the turn of the Myshkov River. Their closeness turns out to be more sublime: it is the closeness of thought, spirit, outlook on life. For example, shocked by the death of Vesnin, Bessonov blames himself for the fact that, due to his lack of sociability and suspicion, he prevented the formation of friendly relations between them (“the way Vesnin wanted, and the way they should be”). Or Kuznetsov, who could do nothing to help Chubarikov’s calculation, which was dying before his eyes, tormented by the piercing thought that all this “seemed to happen because he did not have time to get close to them, understand everyone, fall in love ...”.

Divided by the disproportion of duties, Lieutenant Kuznetsov and the army commander, General Bessonov, are moving towards the same goal - not only military, but also spiritual. Suspecting nothing of each other's thoughts, they think about the same thing and seek the truth in the same direction. Both of them demandingly ask themselves about the purpose of life and about the correspondence of their actions and aspirations to it. They are separated by age and have in common, like father and son, and even like brother and brother, love for the Motherland and belonging to the people and to humanity in the highest sense of these words.

The past of the characters in the novel is essential and weighty. For some, it is almost cloudless, for others it is so complex and dramatic that the former drama is not left behind, pushed aside by the war, but accompanies a person and in -

battle southwest of Stalingrad. The events of the past determined Ukhanov's military fate: a gifted, full of energy officer who would have commanded a battery, but he is only a sergeant. The cool, rebellious character of Ukhanov also determines his movement within the novel. Chibisov's past misfortunes, which almost broke him (he spent several months in German captivity), echoed fear in someone and determined a lot in his behavior. One way or another, the past of Zoya Elagina, and Kasymov, and Sergunenkov and the unsociable Rubin slips in the novel, whose courage and loyalty to soldier's duty we will be able to appreciate only by the end of the novel.

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