Hazi Ahad oglu Aslanov was born on January 22, 1910 in Lankaran, in the family of a worker of the Lankaran Brick Plant. At the age of 14, he entered the Transcaucasian Military Preparatory School No. 1 in Baku. After leaving school, he was immediately sent to the Transcaucasian School of Military Training.  In the 1924-1930s he studied at military schools of Baku and Leningrad. After completing his studies by order of the RMC of the Transcaucasian Military District, he was sent to study at the Borisoglebsk-Leningrad Cavalry School (former Nikolayev Cavalry School). In June 1931 he was appointed commander of a platoon of the 15th cavalry regiment of the 3rd Bessarabian cavalry division named after Kotovsky.

For two years, in parallel with service in the cavalry regiment, Hazi studied the art of driving a tank in courses at the military academy of armored forces. Already in June 1933, the young Hazi Aslanov was appointed commander of a platoon of a detached tank company.

When the Second World War began, Aslanov served in the Ukraine. In 1939-1940 he became a participant of the Polish campaign and the Soviet-Finnish war. In November 1940 he was conferred the rank of major.

Hazi Aslanov displayed his commander's talent on the night of June 23, 1941, in an unequal battle with the German-fascist troops that attacked the Soviet Union. Together with his soldiers, for 5 months he had repulsed the blows of the enemy in the battles in Donbas. In early August 1941, by order of the commander of the 10th tank division, Aslanov was put in charge of the tank battalion, which participated in the bloody battles for the defense of Kiev.

From September 1941, Hazi Aslanov became the deputy commander of the 10th rifle regiment for the technical issues. At the beginning of 1942 he was sent to Moscow at the disposal of the commander of armored and mechanized troops. In February 1942, he was assigned to the Crimean Front, taking the post of deputy commander of the 55th detached tank brigade for the combatant unit. After evacuation from the Crimea in May 1942, he restored the brigade in the North Caucasus.

In June 1942, the brigade jumped again the battle as part of the 28th tank corps of the 4th tank army on the Stalingrad front. From October 1942, Hazi Aslanov was the commander of the 55th detached tank regiment (4th mechanized corps), formed from the remnants of the 55th tank brigade, which suffered heavy losses in defensive battles near Stalingrad.

On November 19, 1942, counteroffensive of the Soviet troops began at Stalingrad. During the day, the tank crew members of Aslanov, in cooperation with the 1378th rifle regiment of Lieutenant Colonel M.S.Diasamidze, fighting overcame more than 40 kilometers distance. On November 21, the 55th detached tank regiment blocked the Stalingrad-Salsk railway line. On November 22-23, developing the offensive, tankers of Aslanov occupied the Abganerovo station and the settlement of Verkhne-Kumsk.

In December 1942, the 55th tank regiment confronted the advanced units of the army group “Don” of Manstein, who tried to break through to the seiged 6th Army of Paulus. In the course of fierce battles in the area of  Verkhne-Kumsk, Aslanov’s tank men destroyed 30 tanks, 26 guns, 50 cars and up to 2 thousand enemy soldiers and officers. On December 18, 1942, the 4th Mechanized Corps was transformed into the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps, the 55th Detached Tank Regiment as part of the corps was transformed into the 41st Guards Tank Regiment.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR from December 22, 1942 “For the exemplary performance of command assignments at the front of the struggle against the German fascist invaders, showing courage and heroism for the skillful and courageous leadership of subordinate units“, Lieutenant Colonel Hazi Aslanov was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.

The newspaper “Красная Звезда“(Krasnaya Zvezda) of December 24, 1942 wrote: “The history of wars has not yet seen the fighters who fought so bravely as A.A.Aslanov and his battle comrades-in arms. No matter how strong the enemy tanks and infantry are, they cannot be compared with the part led by the powerful, strong-willed commander, Hero of the Soviet Union Hazi Aslanov.”

In January 1943, Hazi Aslanov was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the 35th Guards Tank Brigade of the 3rd Guards Mechanized Corps formed on the basis of the 41st Guards Tank Regiment. On January 13, 1943, the newspaper of the Stalingrad Front “The Son of the Motherland” noted: “... how to coordinate tank operations with infantry and artillery actions needs to be learned from the military unit of Colonel H.Aslanov.  Let the combat skills of the tankmen of Hero of the Soviet Union H.Aslanov be a model for all our military units ...”

Tankmen of Aslanov participated in the liberation of the cities of Belgorod, Sumy, Akhtirka, Poltava, Lebedin, Mirgorod.

From December 1943 to April 1944, Hazi Aslanov studied at short-term courses at the Military Academy of Mechanization and Motorization of the Red Army named after J.V.Stalin, then again took command of his 35th Guards Tank Brigade. On March 13, 1944 Hazi Aslanov was promoted to major general of tank forces.

During the summer and autumn, Aslanov’s brigade participated in the liberation of the cities of Vileika, Minsk, Molodechno and Vilnius, Šiauliai, Jelgava and others. The brigade received eight Letters of commendation from the Supreme Commander. On August 12, 1944, the 35th Guards Tank Brigade was given the honorary title “Shavlinskaya“. In late 1944 - early 1945, the 35th Guards Tank Brigade participated in the blockade of the enemy's Courland grouping.

On January 24, 1945, in the vicinity of Priekule, in Liepāja district, during the reconnaissance of the guard, Major General of the armored forces Hazi Aslanov was seriously wounded (from a close projectile rupture he received multiple heavy wounds to the head, neck and chest) and died a few hours later (according to other data, he died in the hospital on January 25th).

In 1990, the presentation of the commander of the 3rd Belorussian Front, I.D.Chernyakhovsky, dated July 4, 1944, was renewed to assign Major-General Hazi Aslanov the title of Hero of the Soviet Union the second time to the Hero of the Soviet Union. On June 21, 1991, for the successful leadership of the brigade’s combat operations and personal heroism during the Operation «Bagration», Hero of the Soviet Union Major General Tank Forces of the Guards Hazi Ahad oglu Aslanov was again awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union (posthumously).

A monument was erected over Hazi Aslanov’s grave in Baku. In 1969 the house-museum of Hazi Aslanov was opened in Lankaran. On May 8, 1983, a huge monument to Hazi Aslanov was erected in the center of the city of Lankaran. One of the streets and metro stations in Baku is named after Hazi Aslanov. One of the streets of Barda town is named after Hazi Aslanov.

Recommended literature:

1. Azərbaycanın qəhrəman oğlu Həzi Aslanov /burax. məs. M. Cabbar. - Bakı: Azərnəşr, 1943. - 32 s.
2. Azərbaycan sovet ittifaqı qəhrəmanları/Azərbaycan SSR Elmlər Akademiyası Tarix İnstitutu. - Bakı: Azərnəşr, 1963. - 248 s.
3. Bağırov, Musa. Sərkərdənin taleyi /M. Bağırov; Red.: T. Aydınoğlu. - Bakı: Hərbi, 1999. - 272 s.
4. Məhərrəmov, Əli Həsən oğlu. General H.Ə.Aslanov /Əli Məhərrəmov; Red. F. Ələkbərova. - Bakı: Təhsil, 2008. - 76 s.
5. Vəliyev, İsmayıl Abbas oğlu. XX əsrin müharibələrində Azərbaycanlıların iştirakı [Mətn] /İ. Vəliyev ; red. O. Vəliyev, V. Əfəndiyev. - Bakı: Hərbi, 2011. - 346 s.
6. Гусейнов, Азад Асаф оглы. Азербайджан 1941-1945. Герои Советского Союза /А. А. Гусейнов. - Баку: Heroqlif, 2017. - 351 с.
7. Гритченко, Александр. Героизм сынов и дочерей Азербайджана : К 65-летию Великой Победы /А. Гритченко. - Баку: Военное Изд-во, 2009. - 532 с.