Artillery of Podolsk cadets in 1941 "There Was Real Hell"

06.10.202027.05.2017

Units similar to the Russian airborne forces exist in many countries around the world. But they are called differently: air infantry, winged infantry, airmobile troops, highly mobile amphibious troops, and even the commando.

At the beginning of 1936, the British leadership was shown a documentary film about the world's first airborne assault created in the USSR. As a result of the viewing, General Alfred Knox casually remarked on the sidelines of parliament: "I have always been convinced that Russians are a nation of dreamers." In vain, already during the Great Patriotic War the Russian paratroopers proved that they are capable of the impossible.

Moscow is in danger. Parachutes - not needed

From the first days of their existence, Soviet landing troops were used to carry out the most complex military operations. However, the feat they accomplished in the winter of 1941 can hardly be called anything other than fantasy.

During the most dramatic days of the Great Patriotic War, the pilot of the Soviet Army, who was making a reconnaissance flight, unexpectedly and with horror for himself discovered a column of Nazi armored vehicles moving towards Moscow, on the way of which there were no Soviet troops. Moscow was bare. There was no time to think. The high command ordered to stop the rapidly advancing fascists to the capital with the airborne forces. At the same time, it was assumed that they would have to jump from planes going on low level flight, without parachutes, into the snow and immediately engage in battle. When the command announced the conditions of the operation in front of the Siberian landing company, stressing that participation in it was not an order, but a request, no one refused.

It is not difficult to imagine the feelings of the Wehrmacht soldiers when the wedges of Soviet aircraft flying at extremely low altitudes appeared in front of them. When tall heroes without parachutes fell from the air machines into the snow, the Germans were completely panicked. The first planes were followed by the following. They couldn't see the end. This episode is most vividly described in the book by Yu.V. Sergeeva "Prince's Island". The battle was fierce. Both sides suffered heavy losses. But as soon as the significantly superior numbers and weapons of the Germans began to gain the upper hand, new planes of the Soviet landing force appeared from behind the forest and the battle flared up again. The victory remained with the Soviet paratroopers. German mechanized columns were destroyed. Moscow was saved. Moreover, as it was later calculated, when jumping without a parachute into the snow, about 12% of the landing force died. It is noteworthy that this was not the only case of such a landing during the defense of Moscow. A story about a similar operation can be found in the autobiographical book From Heaven to Battle, written by the Soviet intelligence officer Ivan Starchak, one of the parachute jumping champions.

The paratroopers were the first to take the North Pole

For a long time under the heading "Top Secret" the feat of the Soviet paratroopers, worthy of the Guinness Book of Records, was hidden. As you know, after the end of World War II, a heavy shadow of the Cold War hung over the world. Moreover, the participating countries had unequal conditions in the event of the outbreak of hostilities. The United States had bases in Europe where its bombers were located. And the USSR could deliver a nuclear strike against the United States only through the territory of the Arctic Ocean. But in the late 1940s and early 1950s, this path was long for heavy bombers, and the country needed "jump" airfields in the Arctic, which needed to be protected. For this purpose, the command of the troops decided to organize the world's first landing of Soviet servicemen in full combat gear to the North Pole. Vitaly Volovich and Andrei Medvedev were entrusted with such a responsible mission.

They were supposed to land on the pole on the landmark day of May 9, 1949. The parachute jump was successful. The Soviet paratroopers landed exactly at the predetermined point. They set the USSR flag and took pictures, although this was a violation of the instructions. When the mission was successfully completed, the paratroopers were taken by a Li-2 plane, which landed on an ice floe nearby. For the record set, paratroopers received the Order of the Red Banner. The most amazing thing is that the Americans were able to repeat their jump only 32 years later in 1981. Of course, it was they who got into the Guinness Book of Records: Jack Wheeler and Rocky Parsons, although Soviet paratroopers made the first parachute jump to the North Pole.

"9th company": a movie from life

One of the most famous domestic films about the airborne troops of Russia is Fyodor Bondarchuk's film "9th company". As you know, the plot of the blockbuster, striking with drama, is built on real events that took place during the infamous war in Afghanistan. The film is based on the story of the battle for the dominant height of 3234 in the Afghan city of Khost, which was to be held by the 9th company of the 345th Guards Independent Parachute Regiment. The battle took place on January 7, 1988. Several hundred Mujahideen opposed 39 Soviet paratroopers. Their task was to seize the dominant height in order to then gain control over the Gardez-Khost road. Using terraces and hidden approaches, the Mujahideen were able to approach the positions of the Soviet paratroopers at a distance of 200 meters. The battle went on for 12 hours, but unlike the movie, it had a less dramatic ending. The Mujahideen fired mercilessly at the positions of the paratroopers from mortars, machine guns and grenade launchers. During the night, the attackers stormed the height nine times and threw them back the same number of times. True, the last attack almost brought them to their goal. Fortunately, at that moment, a reconnaissance platoon of the 3rd paratrooper regiment arrived to help the paratroopers. This decided the outcome of the battle. The Mujahideen, having suffered significant losses and did not achieve what they wanted, retreated. The most surprising thing is that the losses among our people were not as great as it was shown in the film. Six people were killed and 28 were injured of varying severity.

Russian response to NATO

It is noteworthy that the first military-political victory of Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union was brought precisely by the airborne troops. During the tragic 1990s for the country, when the United States stopped taking into account Russian interests, the last straw that overflowed the cup of patience was the bombing of Serbia. The protests of Russia, which demanded an exclusively peaceful resolution of the conflict, NATO did not take into account.

As a result, over 2,000 civilians alone were killed in Serbia in a few months. Moreover, during the preparations for Operation Allied Force in 1999, Russia was not only not mentioned as a possible participant in the resolution of the conflict, its opinion was not taken into account at all. In this situation, the military leadership decided to conduct its own proactive operation and occupy the only major airport in Kosovo, forcing them to reckon with themselves. The Russian peacekeeping battalion was ordered to move out of Bosnia and Herzegovina and make a 600 km march. The paratroopers of the combined battalion of the Airborne Forces were to be the first, before the British, to occupy the Slatina airport of Pristina, the country's main strategic facility. The fact is that it was the only airport in the region capable of receiving any type of aircraft, including military transport. It was here that it was planned to transfer the main NATO forces for ground combat operations.

The order was carried out on the night of June 11-12, 1999, on the eve of the start of the NATO ground operation. Russians were greeted with flowers. As soon as NATO understood what had happened, a column of British tanks hastily advanced to the Slatina airfield. The forces, as usual, were unequal. Russia wanted to additionally transfer an airborne division to the airport, but Hungary and Bulgaria refused to enter the air corridor. Meanwhile, British General Michael Jackson ordered the tankers to free the airport from the Russians. In response, the Russian servicemen took aim at NATO military equipment, showing the seriousness of their intentions. They did not allow British helicopters to land at the airport. NATO sharply demanded that Jackson kick the Russians out of the Slatina. But the general said that he was not going to start the Third World War and retreated. As a result, in the course of a daring and successful paratrooper operation, Russia gained zones of influence, including control over the Slatina airport.

Nowadays, the airborne troops of Russia, as before, continue to defend the military and political interests of Russia. The main tasks of the Airborne Forces during hostilities include the coverage of the enemy from the air, the implementation of combat operations in his rear. The priority is to disorient the enemy forces by disrupting their control, as well as to destroy ground-based elements of high-precision weapons. In addition, the airborne troops are used as a rapid reaction force.

70 years ago, 3.5 thousand young cadets of the Podolsk military schools stopped an entire fascist division, which was rushing to Moscow. In Podolsk, at the intersection of Parkovaya Street and Archive Proyezd, a majestic sculptural group rises in the form of three modern warriors, rushing towards the enemy. This is a Monument to Podolsk cadets, 18-19-year-old boys who, in one of the most difficult moments for the defense of Moscow, having accomplished a feat of self-sacrifice, stopped an enemy almost ten times superior.

Boys against the SS

In the 17th secondary school of Podolsk there is a museum, the exhibits of which restore the picture of this greatest feat.

On October 5, 1941, our aerial reconnaissance discovered a 25-kilometer German motorized convoy, which was moving at full speed along the Warsaw highway in the direction of Yukhnov. 200 tanks, 20 thousand infantry in vehicles, accompanied by aviation and artillery, posed a mortal threat to Moscow, which was 198 kilometers away. There were no Soviet troops on this path. Only in Podolsk there were two military schools: the infantry - PPU (head of the school, Major General Vasily Smirnov, number - 2000 cadets) and artillery - PAU (head of the school, Colonel Ivan Strelbitsky, number - 1500 cadets). With the beginning of the war, Komsomol students from various universities were sent to schools. The 3-year program was reorganized into a six-month one. Many of the cadets managed to study only in September. The head of the artillery school, Strelbitsky, later wrote in his memoirs: “There were many among them who had never shaved, never worked, never went anywhere without dad and mom.” But this was the last reserve of the Headquarters in this direction, and she had no choice but to plug the gigantic gap that had formed in the defense of Moscow with the boys.

The hastily formed consolidated detachment of cadets, who had been removed from training on alert, was tasked with occupying the Ilyinsky combat site of the Mozhaisk defense line of Moscow in the Maloyaroslavets direction and blocking the enemy's path for 5-7 days until the Stavka reserves from the depths of the country came up, recalls Nikolai Merkulov, chairman of the Council of Veterans of Podolsk military schools. - To prevent the enemy from being the first to occupy the Ilyinsky defensive area, an advanced detachment of two companies was formed. He advanced towards the enemy. On the crossing, the cadets met a group of our airborne troops led by Captain Storchak. They were abandoned from an airplane to organize the work of partisan detachments in the rear of the Germans. Realizing how important it is to detain the Nazis at least for a few hours, Storchak ordered his paratroopers to unite with the cadets and take up defensive positions. For five days, they held back the offensive of the superior enemy forces. During this time, 20 tanks, 10 armored vehicles were knocked out and about a thousand enemy soldiers and officers were destroyed. But the losses on our side were enormous. In the cadet companies of the forward detachment by the time they entered the area of \u200b\u200bthe village of Ilyinskoye, only 30-40 fighters remained.

Ilyinsky frontier

At that time, the main cadet forces were deployed on the Ilyinsky line. They set up their training artillery guns in pre-prepared pillboxes and took up defensive positions on a front ten kilometers away, only three hundred men per kilometer. But these were not drilled special forces, not samurai, who are brought up from childhood in a harsh military spirit, they were ordinary boys who had just finished school.

On the morning of October 11, the cadets' positions were subjected to massive bombing and shelling. After that, a column of German tanks and armored personnel carriers with infantry began to move towards the bridge at a higher speed. But the attack of the Nazis was repulsed. The Germans, incomparably superior to the cadets in terms of combat power and numbers, were defeated. They could neither accept nor understand what was happening.

In the afternoon of October 13, the Nazi tank column managed to bypass the 3rd battalion, reach the Warsaw highway and attack the cadet positions from the rear. The Germans went for a trick, red flags were attached to the tanks, but the cadets discovered the deception. They turned their guns back. The tanks were destroyed in a fierce battle.

The German command was enraged, the Nazis could not understand how the elite SS troops were holding back some two schools, why their famous soldiers, armed to the teeth, could not break through the defenses of these boys. They tried in every way to break the spirit of the cadets. They scattered leaflets over the positions with the following content: “Valiant red cadets, you fought bravely, but now your resistance has lost its meaning, Varshavskoe shosse is ours almost to Moscow itself, in a day or two we will enter it. You are real soldiers, we respect your heroism, come over to our side, here you will receive a friendly welcome, delicious food and warm clothes. These leaflets will serve as your pass. "

Not a single boy gave up! Wounded, emaciated, hungry, already at war with captured weapons obtained in battle, they did not lose their presence of mind.

The situation in the Ilyinsky combat area was steadily worsening - the Germans unleashed a barrage of artillery and mortar fire on our positions. Aviation struck one blow after another. The defenders' forces were rapidly melting away, there was not enough shells, cartridges and grenades. By October 16, the surviving cadets had only five guns, and then with incomplete gun crews.

On the morning of October 16, the enemy struck a new powerful fire strike along the entire front of the Ilyinsky combat sector. Cadet garrisons in the remaining pillboxes and pillboxes were shot by direct fire from tanks and cannons. The enemy slowly moved forward, but on his way was a camouflaged pillbox on the highway near the village of Sergeevka, commanded by the commander of the 4th PAU battery, Lieutenant A.I. Aleshkin. The crew of cadet Belyaev's 45-mm training gun opened fire and knocked out several combat vehicles. The forces were unequal, and everyone understood this. Unable to take the pillbox from the front by storm, the Nazis attacked it from the rear in the evening and threw grenades through the embrasure. The heroic garrison died almost completely.

On the night of October 17, the command post of the Podolsk schools moved to the location of the 5th company of the PPU in the village of Lukyanovo. On October 18, the cadets were subjected to new enemy attacks, and by the end of the day the command post and the 5th company were cut off from the main forces defending Kudinovo. The commander of the combined detachment, General Smirnov, gathered the remnants of the 5th and 8th cadet companies and organized the defense of Lukyanovo. By the evening of October 19, an order was received to withdraw. But only on October 20, at night, the cadets began to leave the Ilyinsky line to join the army units that were on the defensive on the Nara River. And from there, on October 25, the survivors set off on a marching march to the city of Ivanovo, where the Podolsk schools were temporarily transferred.

In the battles at the Ilyinsky combat area, Podolsk cadets destroyed up to 5 thousand German soldiers and officers and knocked out up to 100 tanks. They fulfilled their task - they detained the enemy at the cost of 2500 lives.

Motherland's gratitude

Amazingly, not a single Podolsk cadet was awarded for this feat!

There were no awards then, there was no time for us, - Nikolai Merkulov modestly recalls. - True, later we learned that the military council of the Moscow military district (at that time it was also the headquarters of the Mozhaisk line of defense), by its order No. 0226 of November 3, 1941, declared gratitude to the survivors.

In the memory of the national feat of the Podolsk cadets, it occupies a worthy place. A monument was unveiled in their honor on May 7, 1975 in Podolsk. It shows a diagram of the battle lines where the heroes-cadets were holding the defense (the authors of the monument are sculptors Yu. Rychkov and A. Myamlin, architects - L. Zemskov and L. Skorb).

Monuments were also erected in the village of Ilyinskoye (at the sites of the battles of Podolsk cadets) - opened on May 8, 1975, in the city of Saransk - opened on May 6, 1985, at the cadets' mass grave in the area of \u200b\u200bthe Detchino village - opened on May 9, 1983.

Museums or rooms of military glory have been created: in the village of Ilyinskoye, Maloyaroslavetsky District, Kaluga Region, on the battlefield of cadets, in the Podolsk city military registration and enlistment office, in 16 secondary schools in the cities of Podolsk, Klimovsk, Obninsk, Balashikha, Orekhov-Zuev, Nizhny Novgorod, Zhukovsky, Naro-Fominsk, Tallinn, Malinovka village, Kemerovo region.

Memorial plaques were installed on the building of the industrial technical school in the city of Podolsk, where the Podolsk infantry school was located in 1941, at the entrance of the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense in the city of Podolsk, where the Podolsk artillery school was located in 1941, on the building of the trade and economic technical school in the city of Bukhara, where from December 1941 to 1944 the Podolsk Artillery School was located.

The name of Podolsk cadets was given to an electric train on the Moscow-Serpukhov route, a secondary school in the city of Klimovsk, secondary schools in the cities of Podolsk, Obninsk, Shchapovo village, Ilyinskoe village, streets, squares and parks in Podolsk, Bukhara, Maloyaroslavets, Yoshkar-Ola, Moscow, Saransk.

The feat of the cadets is reflected in the films "If Your House Is Dearest to You", "Battle for Moscow" (2nd part), "The Last Reserve Headquarters", in stories, documentary books, poetry and music, such as "Undefeated Cadets" (N . Zuev, B. Rudakov, A. Golovkin), "Rubezhi" (Rimma Kazakova), Cantata about Podolsk cadets (Alexandra Pakhmutova), songs "The Tale of Podolsk cadets", "At the crossing", "Aleshkinsky pillbox" (Olga Berezovskaya) and others.

Destroyed about 5 thousand German soldiers and officers, knocked out or disabled about 100 tanks, while losing about 2,500 people.

Defense

In 1939-1940, artillery and infantry schools were created in Podolsk. More than 3,000 cadets studied there before the war began.

The feat of the cadets is reflected in the feature film "Battle for Moscow".

On May 4, 2015, participants of the rally in honor of the 70th anniversary of Victory "Roads of Memory and Immortality" at the initiative of the head of the city Nikolai Pestov on the building of Podolsk school number 18 opened a granite memorial plaque to Podolsk cadets.

In 1990, the bridge across the river was named after the Podolsk cadets. Oka of the M2 “Crimea” motorway.

The opening of the monument in Podolsk.jpg

Monument in Kudinovo.jpg

Monument in the village. Kudinovo

Cadet ribbon

The action "Cadets' Ribbon" started in the gymnasium named after Podolsk cadets of Klimovsk on April 27, 2013. The cadet's ribbon is a symbol of memory of the heroism of the Podolsk cadets.

The action "Cadets' Ribbon" was supported by the administrations of the city of Podolsk and the Podolsk region, thus, ribbons will be distributed throughout the territory of Podillya.

Description of the tape

The cadet's ribbon is a piece of satin fabric 25 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. The ribbon has 5 longitudinal alternating stripes equal in width - 3 light green and 2 red colors. At the ends of the ribbon there are abbreviations PPU and PAU (Podolsk infantry school and Podolsk artillery school), above them - lapel insignia of the arms of the troops - infantry and artillery.

The color scheme of the ribbon is based on the medal block of the memorial sign “Veteran of Podolsk military schools. October 1941 ", which was awarded to all Podolsk cadets.

The heraldic meaning of the ribbon colors: green is a symbol of hope, joy, youth. Red is a symbol of courage, courage, fearlessness, blood spilled in battle.

The initiative in holding the action and the development of a commemorative tape belongs to the head of the museum of Podolsk cadets of the gymnasium in Klimovsk, P.E. Krasnovid.

Filmography

If your house is dear to you (1967, USSR). Dir. Vasily Ordynsky, scriptwriter - Konstantin Simonov.
Battle for Moscow (1985, USSR, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, Vietnam). Dir. Yu. N. Ozerov, starring: Stalin - Yakov Tripolsky, Zhukov - Mikhail Ulyanov, Rokossovsky - Alexander Goloborodko.
Last reserve bet (2004, Russia). Dir. Vladimir Novikov, scriptwriter - Vyacheslav Erokhin. Documentary.
Goodbye boys / Podolsk cadets (2014, Russia). Chief director: Sergey Krutin. 16-episode series.

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Notes

Literature

Mikheenkov S.E. "Join the bayonets!" - M .: Eksmo, 2009 .-- 512 p. - (War. Penal battalion. They fought for the Motherland). - ISBN 978-5-6993-2697-6.
Pankov D. V., Pankov D. D. Podvig cadets of Podolsk. - M .: Mosk. worker, 1980 .-- 120 p.

An excerpt characterizing the Podolsk cadets

The countess, with a coldness that her son had never seen, answered him that he was an adult, that Prince Andrew would marry without the consent of his father, and that he could do the same, but that she would never recognize this intriguer as her daughter.
Blown up by the word intriguant, Nikolai, raising his voice, told his mother that he never thought that she would force him to sell his feelings, and that if this was so, then he was speaking for the last time ... But he did not have time to say that decisive word, which, judging according to the expression on his face, his mother was waiting with horror and which, perhaps, would forever remain a cruel memory between them. He did not have time to finish, because Natasha with a pale and serious face entered the room from the door at which she was eavesdropping.
- Nikolinka, you are talking nonsense, shut up, shut up! I tell you, shut up! .. - she almost shouted to drown out his voice.
- Mom, dear, this is not at all because ... my darling, poor, - she turned to her mother, who, feeling herself on the edge of a break, looked at her son with horror, but due to stubbornness and enthusiasm for the struggle, she did not want and could not give up.
- Nikolinka, I'll explain it to you, you go away - you listen, my dear mother, - she said to her mother.
Her words were meaningless; but they achieved the result she wanted.
The countess hid her face heavily on her daughter's chest, and Nikolai got up, grabbed his head and left the room.
Natasha took up the matter of reconciliation and brought him to the point that Nikolai received a promise from his mother that Sonya would not be oppressed, and he himself made a promise that he would not do anything secretly from his parents.
With the firm intention, having arranged his affairs in the regiment, retire, come and marry Sonya, Nikolai, sad and serious, at odds with his family, but, as it seemed to him, passionately in love, left for the regiment in early January.
After Nikolai's departure, the Rostovs' house became sadder than ever. The Countess became ill from mental disorder.
Sonya was sad both from separation from Nicholas and even more from that hostile tone with which the Countess could not help but treat her. The count was more than ever worried about the bad state of affairs, which required some decisive action. It was necessary to sell a Moscow house and a house near Moscow, and to sell a house it was necessary to go to Moscow. But the countess's health forced her to postpone her departure from day to day.
Natasha, who easily and even cheerfully endured the first time of separation from her fiancé, was now becoming more agitated and impatient every day. The thought that in this way, for nothing, her best time, which she would have used to love him, was lost for no one, tormented her relentlessly. Most of his letters angered her. It was offensive to her to think that while she lives only with the thought of him, he lives a real life, sees new places, new people that are interesting to him. The more entertaining his letters were, the more annoyed she was. Her letters to him, not only did not bring her comfort, but seemed boring and false duty. She did not know how to write, because she could not comprehend the possibility of expressing in a letter truthfully at least one thousandth of what she was used to expressing with her voice, smile and look. She wrote him classically monotonous, dry letters, to which she herself did not ascribe any significance and in which, by bruillons, the Countess corrected her spelling errors.
The countess's health was still not getting better; but there was no way to postpone the trip to Moscow. It was necessary to make a dowry, it was necessary to sell the house, and besides, Prince Andrey was expected first in Moscow, where Prince Nikolai Andreich lived that winter, and Natasha was sure that he had already arrived.
The countess remained in the village, and the count, taking Sonya and Natasha with him, went to Moscow at the end of January.

Pierre, after the matchmaking of Prince Andrei and Natasha, for no obvious reason, suddenly felt the impossibility of continuing his old life. No matter how firmly he was convinced of the truths revealed to him by his benefactor, no matter how joyful he was that first time of passion for the inner work of self-improvement, which he indulged in with such fervor, after the engagement of Prince Andrey to Natasha and after the death of Joseph Alekseevich, about which he received news almost at the same time - all the charm of this former life suddenly disappeared for him. Only one skeleton of life remained: his house with a brilliant wife, now enjoying the favors of one important person, acquaintance with the whole of Petersburg and service with boring formalities. And this old life suddenly presented itself with unexpected abomination to Pierre. He stopped writing his diary, avoided the company of his brothers, began to go to the club again, began to drink a lot, again became close to single companies and began to lead such a life that Countess Elena Vasilyevna considered it necessary to make him a stern remark. Pierre, feeling that she was right, and in order not to compromise his wife, left for Moscow.
In Moscow, as soon as he drove into his huge house with withered and withering princesses, with a huge courtyard, as soon as he saw - after driving through the city - this Iverskaya chapel with countless candle lights in front of golden vestments, this Kremlin square with unbroken snow, these cabbies and the shack of Sivtsev Vrazhka, he saw old Moscow people who did not want anything and were in no hurry to live out their days, saw old women, Moscow ladies, Moscow balls and the Moscow English club - he felt at home, in a quiet refuge. He felt calm, warm, familiar and dirty in Moscow, like in an old dressing gown.
Everything Moscow society, from old women to children, as its long-awaited guest, whose place was always ready and not occupied, - accepted Pierre. For the Moscow world, Pierre was the sweetest, kindest, most intelligent, cheerful, magnanimous eccentric, absent-minded and sincere, Russian, old style, master. His wallet was always empty, because it was open to everyone.
Benefits, bad paintings, statues, charitable societies, gypsies, schools, subscription dinners, revelry, freemasons, churches, books - no one and nothing received a refusal, and if not his two friends, who borrowed a lot of money from him and took him under their custody, he would give everything away. There was no dinner or evening in the club without him. As soon as he leaned back into his place on the couch after two bottles of Margot, he was surrounded, and discussions, arguments, jokes started. Where they quarreled, he reconciled with his kind smile and, by the way, a joke he said. The Masonic dining lodges were dull and sluggish if he was not there.
When, after a bachelor supper, with a kind and sweet smile, surrendering to the requests of a cheerful company, he rose to ride with them, joyful, solemn cries were heard between the youth. At balls, he danced, if a gentleman was lacking. Young ladies and young ladies loved him for the fact that, without courting anyone, he was equally kind to everyone, especially after dinner. "Il est charmant, il n" a pas de seche ", [He is very nice, but has no gender,] they said about him.
Pierre was that retired good-natured chamberlain in Moscow, of which there were hundreds.
How horrified he was, if seven years ago, when he had just arrived from abroad, someone would have told him that he didn’t need to look for anything and invent anything, that his track was broken long ago, it’s predetermined, and that, no matter how he turn around, he will be what everyone was in his position. He couldn't believe it! Was it not he with all his heart that he wanted, now to produce a republic in Russia, now to be Napoleon himself, now a philosopher, now a tactician, the victor of Napoleon? Didn't he see the opportunity and passionately wanted to re-birth the vicious human race and bring himself to the highest degree of perfection? Didn't he set up schools and hospitals and set his peasants free?
And instead of all this, here he is, the rich husband of an unfaithful wife, a retired chamberlain who loves to eat, drink and unbuttoned easily scold the government, a member of the Moscow English Club and a beloved member of Moscow society. For a long time he could not reconcile himself to the idea that he was the same retired Moscow chamberlain, the type of whom he so deeply despised seven years ago.
Sometimes he consoled himself with the thought that this was the only way, while he was leading this life; but then he was horrified by another thought that, so far, how many people had entered, like him, with all their teeth and hair, into this life and into this club, and left there without one tooth and hair.
In moments of pride, when he thought about his position, it seemed to him that he was completely different, special from those retired chamberlains whom he despised before, that they were vulgar and stupid, satisfied and reassured by their position, “and now I am still unhappy I still want to do something for humanity, ”he said to himself in moments of pride. “And maybe all those my comrades, just like me, fought, looked for some new, their own way in life, and just like me by the force of the environment, society, breed, that spontaneous force, against which not a man is domineering, they were brought to the same place as I was, "he said to himself in moments of modesty, and after living in Moscow for some time, he no longer despised, but began to love, respect and pity, as well as himself, his fellows by fate ...
On Pierre, as before, they did not find moments of despair, blues and disgust for life; but the same illness, which had formerly been expressed in sharp fits, was driven inside and did not leave him for a moment. "To what? What for? What's going on in the world? " he asked himself in bewilderment several times a day, involuntarily beginning to ponder the meaning of the phenomena of life; but knowing by experience that there were no answers to these questions, he hastily tried to turn his back on them, took up a book, or hurried to the club, or to Apollo Nikolaevich to chat about urban gossip.

1. Who were the Podolsk cadets?

Podolsk cadets - pupils of two Podolsk military schools: infantry (until August 1, 1941 - small arms and machine gun) and artillery.

The infantry school was formed from January to March 1940. The base was chosen the building of the Podolsk Industrial College at the address: st. Rabochaya, 7. Nowadays, students of the Podolsk College of Service of the RSUTiS are acquiring knowledge of a completely non-military profile here. The cadets were recruited from conscripts, Red Army soldiers, cadets from other schools in Moscow, Kiev, Tambov, Ryazan and other cities.

“From the school named after the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR we were taken away from the battalion. We had to bring the traditions of the Kremlin cadets into the walls of the newly organized school. Cadets of various nationalities met here. This did not prevent us from understanding each other, the deep feeling of love for the Motherland united us all ... ". S.A. Shtern, one of the first cadets of the PPU

Semyon Aleksandrovich Stern, commander of the PPU platoon

Indeed, the cadets were quite mature people, which is confirmed by the analysis of the first military recruitment in August-September 1941, enlisted instead of the lieutenants released in the summer. The cadets of the new replenishment came from the reserve and almost all had a secondary and higher education, or were transferred to school from universities.

By October 1, 1458 people were enrolled in the first year of PPU. On the second - 633. Thus, until the fatal wake-up call on October 5, the freshmen had virtually no time to study military affairs within the walls of the Podolsk infantry school.

Cadets in drill training

By September 1938, an artillery school was formed. Now in its buildings on the street. Kirov, the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense of Russia is located.

With the beginning of the war, the recruiting of artillery regiments and artillery divisions for various purposes began. The headquarters, 5 separate reserve divisions and 7 artillery regiments of anti-tank defense with a total strength of about 1500 people operated. The names of the formations sound menacing, but it must be borne in mind that the cadets-artillerymen had at their disposal training 45-mm anti-tank guns of the 1936 model. Other types of weapons were deeply outdated weapons of the late 19th century. All the best was given to the front. No one had imagined then that the logistics schools would have to go to the front line ...

Artillery school graduation in 1941

2. What feat did the Podolsk cadets accomplish?

Before talking about the feat, you need to find out all the previous events, which caused the cadets to appear on the front line of defense.

From the beginning of the war and within six months, Soviet troops retreated and suffered heavy bloody losses. In the fall of 1941, the Nazis were on the distant approaches to the capital. The mistakes of the command, the lack of human resources led to the fact that the enemy's plans to clamp Moscow in their pincers from the north and south became more and more likely. Here, near Moscow, construction of fortifications began in July.

The most prepared for the fall was the first - the Mozhaisk line of defense, stretching for 220 km. But no one could have predicted such a rapid breakthrough by the Germans. By the fall, on the Maloyaroslavets combat area with a length of more than 30 km, the readiness of engineering structures was reflected in the following indicators: bunkers (long-term firing points) - 60%, bunkers (long-term camouflaged points) - 80%, escarps - 48%. There were no armor shields on pillboxes, escarps and ditches were largely passable for tanks. The line was, in fact, not yet ready for a full-fledged defense.

But the worst thing is not hidden behind these dry numbers - there were no troops capable of quickly and timely standing on these lines and repulsing the enemy. All the forces of the immense country raised to defend the capital: numerous echelons rushed from Siberia and Asia to Moscow under the smoke of steam locomotives. But it took time to hold these positions before the approach of the Stavka reserves.

In early October 1941, when four of our armies were surrounded in the region of Bryansk and Vyazma, the Varshavskoe highway was left without cover. Yukhnov was only 200 km away from Moscow.

Varshavskoe highway, along which the cadets went to the front

On October 5, aerial reconnaissance discovered the movement of a tank and mechanized column of the 57th and 12th German infantry corps, numbering more than 20 thousand people and 200 tanks. The Supreme High Command makes a single, but terrible decision: to throw the cadets of the Podolsk military schools into the gap in the defense. The hopelessness of the situation is tragically illustrated by the words of K.F. Telegin, a member of the military council of the Moscow Military District and the Moscow Defense Zone: "Our main hope and support at these hours are the Podolsk schools."

The cadets were sent to the front so quickly that they did not even have time to change their clothes - they had to fight in summer tunics and breeches. October 1941 turned out to be chilly: endless rains and an average daily temperature of -0.1 ° C. Objective: to hold back the onslaught of the enemy for 5-7 days, dying, retreating, but keeping the defense!

They died, were afraid, cried, retreated, but slowed down the advance of the Germans! Behind were the defense lines in the village of Ilyinskoye, the Germans captured Maloyaroslavets ...

To emotionally feel the whole tragedy of the current defense, it is enough to open the operational report of the head of the infantry school V.A. Smirnov, who headed the defense of the Ilyinsky sector:

“For the 12th day already, Podolsk schools have been defending this zone and have suffered enormous losses in human and material terms. As of today, there are two platoons left in the second battalion of the infantry school, in the first and third - the losses are being investigated. According to incomplete data, no more than 120-150 people remained in them. The commanding staff is almost completely lost. People are extremely overworked and fall on the move. "

But who would have thought that the boys would survive! And not 5 days, as the order said, but three weeks! During this time, the divisions that arrived from Siberia managed to take up defenses along the Nara River, where they stood firmly on October 20, 1941. Thus, the fighting efficiency of the front was restored.

A tank column destroyed by cadets-artillerymen in the village. Ilyinsky

The Germans, in comparison with other sectors of the defensive front, were stopped at the farthest distance from Moscow. And this is, first of all, the merit of the cadets of the Podolsk military schools who fought in the same trenches with the scattered formations of the 43rd army of S.D. Akimov (later - K.D. Golubev), units of the 312th rifle division of A.F. Naumov and a detachment of paratroopers of the 269th airfield service battalion of I.G. Starchak and the 17th tank brigade.

Then out of 3500 thousand cadets, less than 500 guys and commanders survived. Their heroic deed found its worthy reflection in the memoirs of Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov:

"By their heroic self-sacrifice, they thwarted the plan for the quick capture of Maloyaroslavets and helped our troops gain the necessary time to organize defense on the approaches to Moscow."

In January 1942, after three months of German occupation, Soviet troops took both Maloyaroslavets and Ilyinskoye. In the January snow of broken trenches near the Varshavskoye Highway lay hundreds of frozen boys' bodies, and next to them were rifles, notebooks and notes ...

Reconstruction of battles on the Ilyinsky borders. October 2016

3. What happened to the Podolsk military schools in the post-war period?

After the October battles, less than 500 people from the schools remained alive. On October 25, 270 cadets and commanders of the infantry school on foot departed in Ivanovo to a new location. Later, the school, transferred to the city of Borovichi, was disbanded on December 1, 1956. At the end of October, the artillerymen departed by rail to the city of Bukhara, Uzbek SSR, where the school was also disbanded in the 50s.

Over the years, the school has brought up 34 Heroes of the Soviet Union and thousands of holders of many military awards. For all types of training, schools were repeatedly recognized as the best in their military districts. Thus, the military glory of the Podolsk military schools overshadowed not only the defense lines near Moska, but also Europe freed from fascism.

4. Who and when started the study of the exploit of the Podolsk cadets?

The country's first museum of cadets was created under the leadership of Dmitry Pankov by students of the Klimovsk school number 4, since 1996 - the Gymnasium named after Podolsk cadets. Since 1988, the educational institution has been bearing this honorary name. Exactly half a century ago, in July 1966, under the leadership of the fourth Klimovsk school, headed by D.D. Pankov and the Komsomol members of Podolsk and the region, headed by V.M. Zhuchenko, the first monument to cadets and a mass grave was created in the village of Detchino, Kaluga region.

The museum was opened in 1965, it is alive and warmly welcomes tourists. In May 2015, marked by the 70th anniversary of the Great Victory, a monument and a square created by schoolchildren, teachers, townspeople, enterprises and organizations - the whole world and all the people - were unveiled in the gymnasium square!

Every year, high school students and children of the 18th school named after Podolsk cadets, together with the administration of G.O. Podolsk is headed by the Watch of Memory at the Ilyinsky borders. A lot of search work is carried out by pupils of schools No. 11 in Obninsk, No. 657 in Moscow, schools in the village. Shchapovo and, of course, professional historians, workers in archives and museums.

5. What memorable places are there in the city district dedicated to Podolsk cadets?

Podolsk is filled with memory: the walls of the buildings where the cadets studied keep the silence of classroom lectures and bursting laughter in the corridors. On the facades of the buildings where the schools were located (the addresses are presented above), we will be greeted by memorial plaques. On the site of the training ground of the artillery school, the echoes of explosions have not been heard for a long time - the microdistricts of Yubileiny and Fetishchevo have grown here.

The visiting card of our city has long been a stainless steel monument (1975) on Kirov Street, as if embodying the steadfastness and will of the cadets. The monument, erected in the Klimovsk gymnasium (2015) and made of musical bronze, introduces the cadets as young soldiers, firmly gripping rifles in their hands and standing firmly on the line of defense.

Monument to Podolsk cadets on Kirov street (photo: press service of the administration of G.O. Podolsk)

Monument to Podolsk cadets in the gymnasium park of the same name (microdistrict "Klimovsk" of Podolsk city)

The memory of the cadets is forever immortalized in the name of the street in the hero city of Moscow, their name was given to the Klimov gymnasium and school No. 18. Many educational institutions have museums and rooms of military glory, where the history of this once almost unforgotten feat takes its rightful place.

Rally in Ilyinskoye to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the cadets' feat. The village of Ilyinskoe. October 2016

But the most important thing is the memory of them in the soul and heart of each of us, and this is more important than any monuments and memorial plaques. Remember!

Pavel Krasnovid,

teacher, head of the Museum of Podolsk cadets MBOU "Gymnasium named after Podolsk cadets" G.O. Podolsk md. "Klimovsk"

Photo courtesy of the Museum of Podolsk Cadets

On October 5, 1941, Soviet aerial reconnaissance discovered a 25-kilometer German motorized convoy, which was moving at full speed along the Warsaw highway in the direction of Yukhnov.

They had 198 kilometers to go to Moscow.

200 tanks, 20 thousand infantry in vehicles, accompanied by aviation and artillery, posed a mortal threat to Moscow. There were no Soviet troops on this path. Only in Podolsk there were two military schools: infantry - PPU (head of the school, Major General Vasily Smirnov, number - 2000 cadets) and artillery - PAU (head of the school, Colonel Ivan Strelbitsky, number - 1500 cadets). With the beginning of the war, Komsomol students from various universities were sent to schools. The 3-year program was reorganized into a six-month one. Many of the cadets managed to study only in September.

Head of the Artillery School Strelbitsky. in his memoirs later he wrote: "There were many among them who had never shaved, did not work, did not go anywhere without dad and mom." But this was the last reserve of the Headquarters in this direction, and she had no choice but to plug up the gigantic gap that had formed in the defense of Moscow with the boys.

On October 5, about 2000 cadets of artillery and 1500 cadets of infantry schools were withdrawn from classes, raised by alarm and sent to the defense of Maloyaroslavets.

Not a single boy gave up! Wounded, emaciated, hungry, already at war with captured weapons obtained in battle, they did not lose their presence of mind.

On the night of October 17, the command post of the Podolsk schools moved to the location of the 5th company of the PPU in the village of Lukyanovo. On October 18, the cadets were subjected to new enemy attacks, and by the end of the day the command post and the 5th company were cut off from the main forces defending Kudinovo. The commander of the combined detachment, General Smirnov, gathered the remnants of the 5th and 8th cadet companies and organized the defense of Lukyanovo. By the evening of October 19, an order was received to withdraw. But only on October 20 at night the cadets began to leave the Ilyinsky line to join up with the army units that were on the defensive on the Nara River. And from there, on October 25, the survivors set off on a marching march to the city of Ivanovo, where the Podolsk schools were temporarily transferred.

Amazingly, not a single Podolsk cadet was awarded for this feat!

There were no awards then, there was no time for us, - Nikolai Merkulov modestly recalls. - True, later we learned that the military council of the Moscow military district (it was then also the headquarters of the Mozhaisk defense line), by its order No. 0226 of November 3, 1941, announced gratitude to the survivors.

In the memory of the national feat of the Podolsk cadets, it takes a worthy place. A monument was unveiled in their honor on May 7, 1975 in Podolsk. It shows a diagram of the battle lines, where the heroes-cadets held the defense (the authors of the monument were sculptors Yu. Rychkov and A. Myamlin, architects - L. Zemskov and L. Skorb).

Monuments were also erected in the village of Ilyinskoye (at the sites of the battles of Podolsk cadets) - opened on May 8, 1975, in the city of Saransk - opened on May 6, 1985, at the mass grave of cadets in the Detchino village area - opened on May 9, 1983.

The name of Podolsk cadets was given to an electric train on the Moscow-Serpukhov route, a secondary school in the city of Klimovsk, secondary schools in the cities of Podolsk, Obninsk, Shchapovo village, Ilyinskoe village, streets, squares and parks in the cities of Podolsk, Bukhara, Maloyaroslavets, Yoshkar-Ola, Moscow, Saransk.