"There was real hell." Truth and myths about the heroism of Podolsk cadets. The feat of cadets of Podolsk military schools Podolsk military school

Shvygin I. I.

The training units of the 57th Army Corps completely vacated the premises they occupied by February 20, so training began in Moscow on the basis of the Moscow Infantry and Artillery Schools. The command and teaching staff was formed mainly from the reserve and graduates of the Ryazan and 1st Tambov Red Banner Infantry Schools.

On March 15, 1940, the formation was completely completed, but classes in the new building began on March 1, 1940. The first three training battalions were staffed with civilian youth and Red Army soldiers in 1939, and the 4th and 5th battalions - with cadets who arrived from Moscow, Ryazan and other infantry schools. A two-year study period was set. One of the first cadets of the PPU - S.A.Stern recalled:

In the first days of the war, on the basis of the summer camps of the school in Luzhki (p / box 8, lit. 39), thousands of conscripts went through training. Was formed letter regiment, created for accelerated combat training mobilized by conscription and subsequently sent in echelons to the Western Front. Several anti-tank defense regiments were formed in Luzhki. In addition to combat training, assistance in the formation and dispatch of "letter" battalions to the front, commanders and cadets patrolled in the areas of Domodedovo, Kashira and Elektrostal "in case of an enemy parachute landing or sabotage groups."

On August 1, 1941, the school was renamed the Podolsk Infantry School (PPU). In September, the second, accelerated release took place. 918 lieutenants - platoon commanders - were sent to the front.

As of October 1, 1941, the Podolsk Infantry School studied: in the first year - 1458, and in the second - 633 cadets.

Podolsk Artillery School

The Podolsk Artillery School (PAU) was formed in September 1938 and trained ATO platoon commanders. The cadets formed four artillery divisions. Each division consisted of three training batteries, consisting of four platoons. The training battery trained about 120 cadets. One of the first graduates V.M.Krasnov recalled:

At the end of the summer of 1938, we arrived from the second Moscow art school, where we were taking entrance exams. We lived in tents near the Warsaw highway. They built and studied. In May - July 1941, the first graduation took place ...

Many officers of the first graduation in 1941 remained in the school and were assigned to command positions in training units. At various times, from 1938 to 1941, the Podolsk Artillery School was commanded by Colonels G.I.Balashev, M.G. Krasutsky, N.A. Oganesyan. With the beginning of the war, the school began to accelerate the formation of artillery regiments and divisions for various purposes. In the summer and autumn of 1941, at the garrison of the school, it was possible to form 5 separate artillery divisions of the reserve of the main command, 7 anti-tank defense regiments (PTO) and several searchlight companies.

From September 5 to December 9, 1941, the school was commanded by Colonel I. S. Strelbitsky, who had combat experience. Strelbitsky met the war as the commander of the 8th artillery anti-tank brigade in Western Belarus. In total, about 1500 people studied at the school. Like the cadets of the infantry school, the artillerymen served in the fight against enemy landings and sabotage groups. 2nd battalion in Podolsk, and 4th in Serpukhov. At the same time, the school switched to a six-month period of training for artillery officers. Also at the PAU, courses for political fighters were organized, which were listened to by more than 4,000 Komsomol activists and party members before being sent to the front. In September, the second, accelerated release took place. 918 artillery officers with the rank of lieutenant were sent to the front. ...

Before the Great Patriotic War more than 3500 people studied at the Podolsk artillery and infantry military schools. With the beginning of the war, Komsomol students from different universities of the country began to be sent to these schools at the call. The overwhelming majority of freshmen were trained at OSOAVIAKhIMs at their place of residence and already had one or several military professions.

The 2- or 3-year programs have been reduced to 6 months. Many of the cadets managed to study no more than one month before entering their first battle.

There were many among them who had never shaved, did not work, did not go anywhere without dad and mom.

On the southwestern approaches to Moscow

Situation in the Moscow direction. 30.09 - 30.10.1941

On October 2, the enemy struck powerful blows at the troops of the Western and Reserve Fronts from the areas north of Dukhovshchina and east of Roslavl, he managed to break through the defenses of our troops. The advanced units were rapidly advancing, encompassing the entire Vyazma grouping from the south and north. By the end of October 7, all routes to Moscow were essentially open.

The operational situation in the Moscow direction changed very quickly and not in favor of the Red Army. As early as October 4, 1941, Headquarters were confident that the front line was located 100-150 kilometers from Yukhnov,

From combat report No. 48 / OP on 14:20 4.10 the headquarters of the Reserve Front reported:
From the morning of 04.10 the enemy continued to develop a strike with motorized equipment on the flank and rear of the 43rd Army in the general direction of Spas-Demensk. Auxiliary strike - along the Moscow [Varshavskoe] highway. By 8.45 the enemy had cut the highway

<…>The commander, contrary to the order of the front commander, to defend the r. Snopot, gave the order for the 53rd SD to withdraw in the direction of Nikolskoye and further to Spas-Demensk. 149, 113 rifle divisions and 148 brigade - in the Novo-Aleksandrovsky area where it occupies defense.

But the very next day the city and the Yemelyanovka airfield were subjected to massive bombardment from the air. In the evening of the same day, the soldiers of Lieutenant Colonel Polyakov from the airfield guard found an enemy reconnaissance detachment on the outskirts of Yukhnov. On October 5, 1941, the Germans occupied almost the entire city and found themselves in the rear of not only the Western but also the Reserve fronts.

At ten o'clock in the morning on October 5, the Head of the Operations Department of the Operations Group of the Moscow Military District, Colonel D. D. Chernov, reported from the Maloyaroslavets area by telephone,

... Early in the morning, carts and vehicles from the rear of the 43rd Army were detained, as well as individual servicemen who showed that the enemy had launched a major offensive, some divisions were fighting in an encirclement, and there were strong battles. The enemy has a lot of tanks, aviation is constantly bombing.

In the southwestern direction along the Varshavskoe highway from the Ekimovichi - Spas-Demensk region, the 57th German motorized corps, which had at least 200 tanks and 20,000 soldiers and officers, moved towards the capital without much resistance. About 190 kilometers remained from Yukhnov to Moscow. There were practically no Soviet troops in this direction.

The first large tank and motorized formations of the enemy moving along the Varshavskoe highway towards Moscow were discovered the day before by fighter pilots 120 IAP Druzhkov and Serov. They reported on a German column up to 25 kilometers long. They did not believe the pilots, and after the report to the General Staff, new fighter crews were sent several times to the Roslavl region.

Only after several rechecks was it reported to Stalin about the enemy columns, after which he immediately called a member of the Military Council of the Moscow Military District, Lieutenant General K.F.

37th Maloyaroslavets fortified area

"Mozhaiskaya line of defense", which included the 37th Maloyaroslavets fortified area (37th SD), was built in a hurry from July 16, 1941 on the line: Moscow Sea - Volokolamsk - Mozhaisk - Maloyaroslavets - Detchino. The total design length of the line was 220 kilometers. The depth of defense is from 50 to 80 km, at 380 km 2 with three lanes.

At the beginning of construction, three departments were created: 35th - Volokolamskoe, 36th - Mozhaisk, and 37th - Maloyaroslavetskoe. On August 26, 1941, the Kaluga, 38th Directorate was organized. The management and control of engineering work was carried out by the 20th, 21st and 22nd directorates of military field construction of the NKO of the USSR. By mid-August 1941, 12,956 people were employed on the construction of the Maloyaroslavets fortified area, and by September 22, already 27,500.

But, starting on July 22, 1941, by decision of the Headquarters, units and subunits of the 34th Army began to be transferred to the Vyazma area where personnel with equipment and weapons were soon destroyed by enemy aircraft, tanks and artillery.

Local residents said that our troops were on the defensive along the Desna and Snotot rivers, but the Germans did not attack recklessly, but at first methodically processed the positions of the Red Army from the air and artillery. After that, there was no stone unturned from the bunkers and dugouts. Then there were tanks and infantry, and "the German infantrymen were engaged only in pulling the distraught, shell-shocked and wounded Red Army soldiers out of the trenches and driving them to the roads ...".

Among the Red Army men, commanders, political workers and those who, at the first danger, raised their hands up and voluntarily surrendered to the enemy, throwing their weapons. And there were many such traitors.

Each regiment of the German infantry division by the end of the summer of the 41st had over the staff the so-called fourth battalion, formed from collaborators - people who, for various reasons, voluntarily sided with the Wehrmacht and agreed to serve its interests.
The fourth battalions compensated for the shortage due to the fact that the work of the rear services was partially shifted to the shoulders of the "hivi" (German hilfswillige) and various units formed from prisoners of the Red Army and the local population who wished to serve the new order or were forced to perform this service for various reasons ...

By the beginning of October 1941, construction was not completed. The 37th (Maloyaroslavets) SD consisted of a chain of unfinished bunkers, in which only a concrete box was ready without hatches, armored shields and doors. There was no camouflage or ventilation, no electricity, no surveillance devices.

In addition, on October 5, 1941, there were no troops capable of taking up defenses and repelling the offensive of the enemy rushing to Moscow. So, for example, a 22-kilometer section of the Ilyinsky sector from the village of Durkino to the village. Yuryevsky, located along the Kaluga → Medyn → Vereya road, was not occupied by troops at all.

A little later, on October 11, 1941, at the last moment, this important sector with a battle was occupied by the 1083rd rifle regiment of the 312th rifle regiment of Colonel A.F. Naumov. The battalions were forced to hastily unload from the echelons in the Bashkino-Vorsino region, south-west of Narofominsk, and overnight, with all the rear services and weapons, cover a distance of 60-70 kilometers.

At the cost of huge losses, the soldiers and commanders of the 1083rd regiment managed for several days to hold back the offensive of the units of the 20th infantry and 25th tank divisions of the Wehrmacht, to repulse the attacks of the airborne assault. The enemy intended to occupy Borovsk and Maloyaroslavets with two powerful diverging strikes, while going out to the rear of the fighting units and subunits in the area of ​​Medyn, Ilyinsky and Detchino.

It was necessary to gain time for the transfer and concentration of the Headquarters reserves. It took at least 5-7 days.

Forward detachment

At about 14:50 - October 5, 1941, the Deputy Commander of the Moscow Military District, Major General N.P. Nikolsky, sent the order to Major S.A. Romanov, the acting head of the Podolsk Infantry School: as a forward detachment along the route Podolsk - Maloyaroslavets - Medyn - Myatlevo with the task: to enter into contact with the enemy to conduct deterrent battles before the main forces of the school of the Ilyinsky line of the 37th Maloyaroslavets UR are occupied ... "In the order for the school No. 237 dated 05.10.1941 noted:

<…> In accordance with the instructions of the Commander of the Moscow Military District, to consider the school as having left for the front as a separate combat group of the active army ...

After five days of bloody battles, having spent almost all the ammunition, the vanguard retreated to the village of Ilyinskoye, where the main forces had already been deployed. No more than a third of the cadets remained from the vanguard, but together with the paratroopers, they destroyed up to 20 tanks, about 10 armored cars, and disabled several hundred Nazis.

Ilyinsky frontier

The main forces of the cadets, after the announcement of the alarm on October 5, moved on cars and on foot to the area of ​​Ilyinsky, Maloyaroslavets and Detchino to occupy a ready-made line of defense and build trenches for dugouts and communications.

The defense was deployed along the banks of the Luzha and Vypreyka rivers from the village of Lukyanovo to Malaya Shubinka, using unfinished fortifications. A separate battalion of cadets took up defensive positions in the Detchino area, southeast of Ilyinsky, to provide cover railroad Moscow-Bryansk and Sukhodrev station from enemy attacks from Kaluga.

On October 9, Colonel A.F. Naumov, the commander of the arrived 312th rifle division, was appointed chief of the Ilyinsky combat area. The headquarters of the fortified area was organized by Naumov in the village of Panskoye on the northwestern outskirts of Maloyaroslavets. By October 10, regiments 312-SD. they were also unloaded at halt stations from Narofominsk to Balabanovo.

By the end of October 10, Medyn was abandoned, and in the morning of October 11, the Germans attempted to storm the Ilyinsky line and organized an attack in the northwestern sector of the 37th UR in the Dyldino - Yuryevskoye area with the aim of quickly capturing Borovsk. The enemy actively used aviation and artillery, after which he switched to infantry attacks. However, all attempts to break through on October 11 were repulsed by cadets and units of the 312th rifle division that arrived in time in the area of ​​Yuryevsky. The situation repeated itself the next day. On October 13, the attack had to be repelled from the rear. German tanks arrived with red flags, but the deception was exposed, and the tanks were destroyed.

Podolsk cadets fought at Ilyinsky as part of a group that included (as of October 11, 1941) the retreat of V.A. Smirnov and his assistant in artillery, Colonel I.S. building about 100 tanks. The order of the High Command to detain the German troops was carried out at the cost of their lives. The cadets stood to their death and did not leave their lines. According to TV presenter Dmitry Dibrov: out of 3500 cadets, about 500 people survived ...

Perpetuation of memory

The beginning of the study of the exploit of cadets in October 1941 was laid in secondary school No. 4 in the city of Klimovsk, Yiddish Misha Lev. In 1948 he published a book of memoirs "Partizanishe vegn" ("Partisan paths"), which included the story "Cadets". In 2015, the Moscow publishing house "Knizhniki" published the autobiographical story "A candle burns in my memory" by Mikhail Andreevich Lev.

Cadet ribbon

The action "Cadets' Ribbon" started in the gymnasium named after Podolsk cadets of the city 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.

The cadet's ribbon is a piece of satin fabric 25 cm long and 3.5 cm wide. There are 5 longitudinal alternating stripes of equal width on the ribbon - 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 color- a symbol of hope, joy, youth. Red is a symbol of courage, courage, fearlessness, blood shed in battle.

The initiative in carrying out 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.

Medal "75 years of the feat of Podolsk cadets"

October 3, 2016 by the All-Russian public organization of veterans Armed Forces Russian Federation and the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation established a commemorative medal dedicated to the 75th anniversary of the feat of the Podolsk cadets.

The medal is awarded to outstanding citizens of the country who have contributed to the patriotic education of youth. The obverse of the medal depicts the Podolsk monument, which is located on Kirov Street.

Objects and events related to the name and deed of Podolsk cadets

• In 1967, the street of Podolsk cadets appeared in Podolsk (formerly 2nd Industrialnaya).
• In 1975, on May 7, in Podolsk, at the intersection of Kirov Street, Parkovaya Street and Archive Proezd, a monument to cadets was erected. The next day, May 8, the monument was unveiled and the Eternal flame in the village of Ilyinskoye. On the same day, the military history museum "Ilyinsky frontiers" was opened in Ilyinskoye.
• In 1985, on May 6, a monument to cadets was unveiled in Saransk. In the same year, on the day of the fortieth anniversary of the victory, the opening ceremony of the memorial was also held near the Varshavskoe highway in the village of Kudinovo.
• In 1989, in Moscow, 2nd Dorozhniy proezd was renamed into the street of Podolsk cadets. Maloyaroslavets district. ...
• On September 29, 2016, the Council of Deputies of the Podolsk City District of the first convocation made a historic decision - to establish October 5 as the Day of Remembrance of Podolsk cadets .
• On November 14, 2016, a package of documents was submitted to the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation on conferring the honorary title of the Russian Federation "City of Military Glory" to the city of Podolsk.

In culture and art

• In 1988, A. N. Pakhmutova wrote "Prelude to the Memory of Podolsk Cadets", which was included in the epic "Battle for Moscow".
• The memory of the cadets of the Podolsk schools also became the song of A. N. Pakhmutova and N. N. Dobronravov "You are my hope, you are my joy" performed by Lev Leshchenko (".. On the snowy plains young cadets, immortality began, life was cut short ..")

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 Parkova Street and Archive Proyezd, a majestic sculptural group rises in the form of three modern warriors, striving 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: 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 outbreak 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 withdrawn from training on alert, was tasked with occupying the Ilyinsky combat site of Moscow's Mozhaisk line of defense 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 Nikolay 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 vanguard detachment by the time they entered the area of ​​the village of Ilyinskoye, only 30-40 fighters remained.

Ilyinsky frontier

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

On the morning of October 11, the positions of the cadets 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 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. In a fierce battle, the tanks were destroyed.

The German command was enraged, the Nazis could not understand how the selected 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 highway 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 fighting 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 forces of the defenders were quickly 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. The 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 there 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 the 45-mm training gun of the cadet Belyaev opened fire and knocked out several combat vehicles. The forces were unequal, and everyone understood this. Unable to storm the pillbox from the front, the Nazis attacked it from the rear in the evening and threw grenades through the embrasure. The heroic garrison perished 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 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.

In the battles in 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 2,500 lives.

Gratitude of the Motherland

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 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 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 area of ​​the 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 Archive 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 the 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, the village of Shchapovo, the village of Ilyinskoye, 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), "Frontiers" (Rimma Kazakova), Cantata about Podolsk cadets (Alexandra Pakhmutova), songs "The Tale of Podolsk cadets", "At the crossing", "Aleshkinsky pillbox" (Olga Berezovskaya) other.

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 technical school at the address: st. Rabochaya, d. 7. Nowadays students of the Podolsk College of Service of the RSUTS are mastering knowledge of a completely non-military profile. The cadets were recruited by 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, a 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 studied in the first year of the PPU. On the second - 633. Thus, until the fatal wake-up call on October 5, the freshmen had virtually no time for military training 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 recruitment of artillery regiments and artillery divisions for various purposes began. The headquarters, 5 separate reserve divisions and 7 anti-tank artillery regiments with a total strength of about 1,500 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 would have 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 preceding events that 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, the 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%, escarpments - 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 repelling 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 detected 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 entire 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 arriving 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 greatest 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 3,500 cadets, less than 500 children and commanders survived. Their heroic deed found its worthy reflection in the memoirs of the Marshal Soviet Union G.K. Zhukova:

"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 a 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 Varshavskoe highway, hundreds of frozen boyish bodies lay, 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 of the Uzbek SSR, where the school was also disbanded in the 50s.

Over the years, the school has raised 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 work on the study of the heroic deeds 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 Great Victory, in the square of the gymnasium, a monument and a square created by schoolchildren, teachers, townspeople, enterprises and organizations - by the whole world and all the people - were unveiled!

Every year, gymnasium 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 frontiers. 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 up 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, presents to us the cadets as young soldiers, tightly 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", 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 Klimovsk gymnasium and school No. 18. In many educational institutions there are museums and rooms of military glory, where the history of this once almost unforgotten feat takes its rightful place.

A 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

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. Before the start of the war, more than 3,000 cadets studied there.

The feat of the cadets is displayed in 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.

The bridge across the river was named after Podolsk cadets in 1990. 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. There are 5 longitudinal alternating stripes of equal width on the ribbon - 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 shed in battle.

The initiative in carrying out 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 (edit)

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. The feat of the Podolsk cadets. - M .: Mosk. worker, 1980 .-- 120 p.

Links

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 muffle his voice.
“Mom, dear, this is not at all because ... my darling, poor,” she turned to her mother, who, feeling herself on the verge of a break, looked at her son with horror, but due to stubbornness and passion for the struggle, she did not want and could not give up.
“Nikolinka, I’ll explain it to you, you go away - listen to me, my dear mother,” she said to her mother.
Her words were meaningless; but they achieved the result she was aiming for.
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 the separation from Nikolai and even more from that hostile tone with which the Countess could not help but treat her. The count was more than ever preoccupied with the bad state of affairs, which demanded some kind of 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 so, for nothing, it disappears for no one the best time, which she would have used to love him, tormented her relentlessly. Most of his letters angered her. She was offended to think that while she lives only by the thought of him, he lives real life, sees new places, new people who 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 meaning and in which, by bruillons, the Countess corrected her spelling errors.
The countess's health was still not getting better; but it was no longer possible 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 Andreevich 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.

After the matchmaking of Prince Andrei and Natasha, Pierre, 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 inner work self-improvement, which he indulged in with such fervor, after the engagement of Prince Andrei 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. There was only one skeleton of life left: 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 Vasilievna 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 hovels 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 haven. 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, kind, intelligent, cheerful, magnanimous eccentric, absent-minded and sincere, Russian, old-fashioned, master. His wallet was always empty, because it was open to everyone.
Benefits, bad pictures, statues, charitable societies, gypsies, schools, subscription dinners, revelry, freemasons, churches, books - no one and nothing received a refusal, and if not two of his friends, who borrowed a lot of money from him and took him under their custody, he would have distributed everything. There was no dinner or evening in the club without him. As soon as he leaned back into his seat on the couch after two bottles of Margot, he was surrounded and talked, argued, joked. 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 dinner, he, with a kind and sweet smile, surrendering to requests fun company, 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 because, without courting anyone, he was equally kind to everyone, especially after dinner. "Il est charmant, il n" a pas de seche ", [He is very sweet, 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 pre-eternally determined, 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 always want to do something for humanity, ”he said to himself in moments of pride. “Or maybe all those comrades of mine, 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 powerful, they were brought to the same place as I was, "he told himself in moments of modesty, and having lived in Moscow for a while, he no longer despised, but began to love, respect and pity, as well as himself, his comrades 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 an instant. "For 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.

The bayonets turned white from the cold,
The snows shimmered blue.
We, having put on our greatcoats for the first time,
They fought fiercely near Moscow.
Mustacheless, almost children,
We knew in that furious year
That there is no one in the world instead of us
For this city will not die.

Gray overcoat. Russians talents.
Blue radiance incorruptible eye.
On plains snowy young cadets. Started immortality. Flife broke off.

Many people have heard the expression "the feat of Podolsk cadets", but few can remember what it was in practice. The history of Podolsk cadets is an example of both self-sacrifice and a skillfully conducted defensive battle. The Wehrmacht in the autumn of 1941 was seriously superior in terms of combat power to any enemy, including the Red Army, and the cadets from Podolsk managed to achieve very serious success - they fought and completed their task, fighting against the elite of the Wehrmacht - tank division led by a famous commander.

Over the abyss

In October 1941, the Red Army suffered one of the largest military disasters in history. The offensive on Moscow, launched by the Germans on September 30, quickly led to the encirclement and death in the "cauldrons" of several Soviet armies at once. A piece of hundreds of kilometers was torn from the front, and the Wehrmacht rushed to Moscow, almost without encountering resistance.

The history of the great feat began on October 5, 1941 at nine o'clock in the morning. At this time, a pilot flew out from the Moscow airfield for reconnaissance and was horrified to find, 220 kilometers from Moscow, along the Varshavskoye Highway, an erupted column of tanks twenty-five kilometers long. They were selected elite troops of the 57th Motorized Corps under the command of General Moritz Albrecht Franz-Friedrich Fyodor von Bock.

Returning, the pilot excitedly reported: "The Germans have broken through the defenses of our troops and are rapidly moving towards Moscow." The command refused to believe. Two more pilots were sent to check the data of the first. Aces on low level flight flew so close to the ground that they saw the expression on the faces of the fascists. Returning from a combat mission, the pilots confirmed the worst.

Stalin was shocked. Stalin's whole strategy was to fight on foreign territory. The defensive lines were not ready. Catastrophe! Stalin urgently summons Zhukov from Leningrad. Georgy Konstantinovich immediately gets into the car from the plane and goes to the front line. On the way, he passes his native village, where his mother, sister and nephews live, and thinks what will happen to them when the Germans capture his relatives and friends.

In the entire history of the war, this was the most dangerous moment - the moment on which depended not only the future of Russia, but the entire world. The stake is very high! The command makes the only possible decision: to throw the last reserve into battle - two military schools:
Podolsk Artillery School and Podolsk Infantry School. There was no one else to defend Moscow.

The rate required any reserves from wherever they could be taken. One of the sources of patching holes in the front was military schools. The decision to use them to plug a breakthrough was monstrous, but without an alternative in the fall of 1941. A cadet is a person who is much better prepared than an ordinary infantryman or artilleryman. The use of the school at the front as an ordinary regiment made it possible to immediately obtain a relatively well-trained unit, but this is a classic case of hammering nails with a microscope: the army loses people who could then become good officers. However, the choice was not rich: either now to put the cadets into operation, or the army and the country will no longer have any "later".

In 1939-1940, artillery and infantry schools were created in Podolsk.

Podolsk Artillery School (PAU) was created in September 1938, it trained commanders of anti-tank artillery platoons. The school simultaneously trained four artillery battalions from three training batteries, 4 platoons each. One training battery consisted of about 120 cadets. In total, about 1500 cadets studied at the school. The storage building, which was a cadet barracks before the war

Podolsk Infantry School (PPU) was formed in January 1940, it trained the commanders of infantry platoons in 4 training battalions. Each battalion had 4 training companies of 120-150 cadets each. In total, more than 2,000 cadets studied at the infantry school.

The school was located in the building where the industrial technical school was located. Now there is the Russian State University of Tourism and Service. From 08/01/1941 - Podolsk infantry school.

Before the start of the war, more than 3500 cadets studied at the schools.

Podolsk infantry and artillery schools were raised in a gun on October 5.

As a line of defense, they were assigned the Maloyaroslavets fortified area - a chain of unfinished bunkers of the Mozhaisk line of defense on the outskirts of Moscow. In these bunkers, except for concrete, there was nothing: the cadets themselves mounted the guns in the cannon pillboxes, there were no periscopes. The concrete boxes, which they did not have time to either disguise or equip, became the frontier that they had to defend. The forces of Army Group Center were ramming towards them, the main striking force of which in this sector was the 19th Panzer Division under the command of an experienced general Otto von Knobelsdorff, veteran of Poland and France, fighting in the USSR since June 22.

Less than 200 kilometers remained to Moscow. Yukhnov had already fallen, a battered tank brigade held the defenses on the Ugra. Another long section of the front was covered by a single airborne battalion.

In these conditions, 3,500 cadets from Podolsk became of great value, especially since they were carefully trained by teachers, all of whom had combat experience. They went into battle under the command of their own heads of schools - Major General Vasily Andreevich Smirnov and Colonel Ivan Semyonovich Strelbitsky.

The main stronghold of the schools was the village of Ilyinskoye. The cadets were transferred to the front as it is, with the available materiel, including training three-inch models of 1898 and even requisitioned and restored museum guns.

Even before the start of the main battles, the forward detachment of cadets met with the captain's paratrooper detachment Ivan Georgievich Starchak.

During the day, the paratroopers held back the enemy on the line of the eastern bank of the Ugra River. Together with the cadets, they decided to organize a night counterattack, which was unexpected for the Germans.

Paratroopers and cadets, restraining the onslaught of the enemy, gradually retreated to the main line of defense - on Ilyinsky.

For 5 days of fighting, they knocked out 20 tanks, 10 armored vehicles, destroyed up to 1,000 enemies. But they themselves suffered heavy losses, in the cadet companies of the advanced detachment, up to two-thirds of the personnel died.

However, the beginning combat path turned out to be optimistic: the vanguard of the cadets joined the paratroopers who were defending in the area, immediately faced the German motorized reconnaissance and pushed it back beyond the Ugra.

This skirmish became the setting for a difficult battle. The Germans constantly pressed on, and there was nowhere to make up for the losses of the paratroopers and cadets. Several companies were formed on the fly from the scattered uncontrollable soldiers of other units. True, there was little sense from them: the cadets mockingly called the "steel infantry" shooters who could not withstand the stress and retreat to the rear.

Having won their first victory, the guys did not want to retreat. The problem for the vanguard commander of the cadets was to convince them to retreat to the main positions. After all, the guys took an oath "Not a step back!" At this time, the main forces of the cadets were preparing for the defense. The guys dug trenches, set up weapons, and wounded, bleeding soldiers, thousands, thousands of wounded walked past them. Strelbitsky suggested Smirnov to stop retreating and form additional detachments from them. To which Smirnov replied: “Look them in the eyes. They are broken. They cannot help us. "

Zhukov, the bravest commander, hard as steel, drove up to the cadets' trenches. The man who started his career as a soldier in the First world war, who received three St. George's Crosses for bravery. Zhukov spoke to the cadets, saying only a few words: “Children, hold out for at least five days. Moscow is in mortal danger ”. Notice how he addressed the cadets. He called them not soldiers, but "children." There were children in front of him.

And now the hour of truth has struck. The Germans immediately threw sixty tanks and five thousand soldiers into the attack. The guys repulsed the first attack. And they didn't just beat them off, but jumped out of the trenches and went into the bayonet. The counterattack was so swift that the Germans chickened out, dropped their weapons and rushed off the battlefield. Invincible warriors, conquerors of Europe fled from schoolchildren. The guys won their first victory. This was their first fight in life, and they believed in themselves, believed that it was possible to beat reptiles. But they did not rejoice for long.

Toughie

In late autumn, the main forces of the 19th Panzerdivision advanced through the muddy fields. The attackers had complete air superiority and a powerful artillery fist. When speaking of blitzkrieg, tanks are most often mentioned, but even in tank divisions, powerful motorized artillery was one of its most important tools.

By October 11, overcoming the resistance of Soviet soldiers and nature, the tank division through Medyn breaks out to Ilyinsky ... and rests against a fortified area of ​​three dozen bunkers.

Concrete bunkers, even unfinished ones, provided better protection than ordinary trenches, and the cadets with artillery in them turned out to be an unexpectedly tough nut. An attempt to take the fortified area with a frontal attack failed, despite the participation of tanks, divisional howitzers and aviation.

If on good days the Germans covered tens of kilometers, the assault on the cadets' positions developed slowly, and only by October 12 did the Germans manage to break through the Vypreika River and begin to build a bridge across it on the flank of the school's positions.

Ilyinskoe. German column on the bridge over the Vypreiku river

Vyprajka- a narrow and shallow river, albeit with steep banks. But a division is not only tanks, it is a mass of supply vehicles that need a road, and autumn is outside with its mud rivers instead of highways. Therefore, the Germans could not simply let the rear columns bypass the cadet redoubts, which means that even having a bridgehead and intercepting the highway in the rear of the cadets, the Germans had not yet approached the goal. This meant that it was necessary, after all, not to wash, but to take Ilyinskoye by rolling.

The ever-increasing forces of the German motorized infantry were diligently hitting the flank of the strongpoint. In the rain, in the mud, there was a desperate battle in the villages, but it was not possible to break through the defenses with an infantry assault, and then Knobelsdorf got the idea to attack Ilyinskoye not from the west, but from the east - with the forces of tanks with the support of infantry. The attack was supposed to be 15 combat vehicles, mainly Czech LTvz.38 "Prague".

The performance characteristics of LTvz.38

Combat weight
Dimensions:
	4600 mm
	2120 mm
	2400 mm
Crew	4 people
Armament	1x37 mm cannon, 2 х 7.92 mm machine guns
Ammunition	72 shells 2400 rounds
Reservation:
hull forehead
tower forehead
engine's type	carburetor "Prague"
Maximum power	125 h.p.
Maximum speed
Power reserve	250 km

Off-road: 160km

Engine: Praga EPA / 6 cylinders / 125hp

They had to advance directly along the highway, since trying to get out of the way was tantamount to jumping into impassable mud. While advancing along the highway, the tanks were supported by a battalion of infantrymen. The attack was scheduled for October 16 (according to other sources, 13).

The Knobelsdorff plan was quite reasonable, and this was its main merit. And the main drawback was that he flew somersault.

Ambush!

The cadet commanders did not have enough artillery, and all of it was collected in the depths of the defense and camouflaged in the forest as a reserve. The German detachment, not knowing this, drove in a neat column straight into the trap.

The Wehrmacht tankers tried to cheat and hoisted a red flag on the lead vehicle. At first, the observers of the cadets relaxed when they saw the familiar banner, but soon the silhouettes showing through the autumn gloom left no doubt: the Germans were coming from the east! However, they had no idea that they were going directly to the positions of the Russian artillery reserve. For which they immediately paid.

The shooting conditions were perfect. The distance is no more than two hundred meters - for large-caliber anti-aircraft guns and light "forty-five" - ​​this is a pistol distance. The Germans could not leave the road, and they did not notice the gun positions until the moment when heavy aimed fire fell on the tanks at the flank. Anti-aircraft guns were a dangerous enemy for heavier vehicles, and light Czech tanks literally destroyed their heavy shells.

The German tank crews were good soldiers, and were not going to let themselves be defeated just like that. They returned fire, knocked out one of the cannons, but they had no chance on the narrow road. "Prague" flashed under a hail of shells one after another. Of the 15 tanks, only one managed to retreat. As a kind of compensation for him Soviet soldiers chalked up at least two armored personnel carriers following the tanks of motorized infantry. Discouraged by the spectacle of this beating, the Wehrmacht infantrymen were thrown off the highway into the forest.

The most effective was the calculation of Yuri Dobrynin. This cadet and his comrades burned six of the German tanks participating in the battle.

The German signalman who participated in this battle wrote:

The head tank burns with a bright flame, the turret hatch opens, from which the crew rushes into the crater. The danger is that our advance has stalled. The tanks are on the highway, and these are the right targets for the Russian anti-aircraft gun, which shoots more accurately.

85 mm anti-aircraft gun 52-K

Characteristics and properties of ammunition

• Charging: unitary
• Ammunition nomenclature:
  • Anti-aircraft fragmentation grenade with remote fuse T-5, TM-30, VM-30: 53-UO-365.
  • Anti-aircraft fragmentation grenade with remote fuse VM-2: 53-UO-365,
  • Anti-aircraft fragmentation grenade with transition head and fuse KTM-1: 53-UO-365
  • Armor-piercing tracer caliber projectile 53-UBR-365
  • Armor-piercing tracer sharp-headed caliber projectile 53-UBR-365K
  • Armor-piercing tracer sabot projectile 53-UBR-365P
• Reach in height, m: 10 230
• Muzzle velocity of the projectile, m / s
  • Anti-aircraft fragmentation grenade with T-5: 800
  • Solid-Hull Frag Grenade: 793
  • Armor-piercing sub-caliber reel: 1050
  • Armor-piercing caliber sharp-headed: 800
• Projectile weight, kg
  • Armor-piercing caliber: 9.2
  • Armor-piercing sub-caliber: 4.99
  • Fragment: 9.2-9.43
  • Anti-aircraft fragmentation grenade: 9.24-9.54
• Armor penetration of a caliber projectile, mm
  • Meeting angle relative to the tangent plane to the armor 60 degrees
    • Distance 100 m: 100
    • Distance 500 m: 90
    • Distance 1000 m: 85
  • Normal to armor
    • Distance 100 m: 120
    • Distance 500 m: 110
    • Distance 1000 m: 100

The shells hiss over the highway. We did not have time to move away from the first shock, as another tank was knocked out. The crew also leaves it. Two more tanks were knocked out next. We watch with horror burning tanks and hear the Russian "hurray!", Although we do not see the enemy. Our ammunition is running low. Half an hour later, we are seized by panic. There are six damaged tanks, and cannons are still firing. What should we do? Back? Then we come under machine gun fire. Forward? Who knows how many enemy forces are in the village, and we are running out of ammunition. The soldiers rush to the anti-tank ditch. Here, under the cover of the trees, is the 7th tank, which calls the first group of tanks from Ilyinsky to help. Soon this tank gets hit and catches fire.

The performance characteristics of the 45-mm cannon of the 1937 model:
Caliber - 45 mm;
Weight in firing position - 560 kg;
Mass in the stowed position: 1200 kg;
The initial velocity of the projectile is 760 m / s;
Vertical guidance angle - from -8 ° to 25 °;
Horizontal guidance angle - 60 °;
Rate of fire - 15-20 rounds per minute;
Maximum firing range - 4400 m;
The maximum range of a direct shot is 850 m;
Armor penetration according to the norms - 28-40 mm (at ranges of 500 and 1000 m);
Armor-piercing projectile weight - 1430 onna

The beating of a column on the highway was an impressive episode in the fate of the 19th Panzer Division. In an offensive, when damaged vehicles can usually be towed to the rear and repaired, a one-time irrecoverable loss of 14 tanks at once is very serious. Moreover, this happened in the conditions of an offensive on Moscow, when every piece of equipment was counted. The broken column was photographed a lot, later the picture of the defeat on the highway near Ilyinsky remained in the history of the 19th division.

Miracles do not happen, and in the coming days, using total fire superiority, the Germans were still able to overcome the resistance of the cadets with brute force. On October 16, the Ilyinsky line fell. The general retreat to the next position was covered by a bunker on the highway near the ruins of the village of Sergeevka with a light anti-tank gun inside.

Attempts to break the spirit of the Soviet cadets with the help of propaganda leaflets failed. The "Red Junkers" were called upon to surrender, to break their will with a false message that the Warsaw highway was seized almost to Moscow, and the capital of the USSR would be seized in a day or two. But nobody gave up!

Soviet youth fought to the death, withstanding artillery and air strikes. The forces were melting away, the ammunition was running out, by October 16, only 5 guns remained in the ranks. It was on this day, after a powerful fire strike along the entire defense front, that the Wehrmacht was able to capture the defensive lines in the Ilyinsky sector, and then only after almost all the cadets who defended here were killed.

Until the evening, he delayed the enemy's advance on the highway near the village of Sergeevka, commanded by the commander of the 4th battery, Lieutenant Afanasy Ivanovich Aleshkin. The crew of the 45-mm cannon knocked out several enemy combat vehicles.

On October 17, the command post of the detachment was moved to Lukyanovo. For another 2 days, the cadets defended Lukyanovo and Kudinovo. On October 19, the fighters defending Kudinovo were encircled, but they managed to break out of it.

On the same day, the cadets received an order to retreat. On October 20, the few surviving cadets of the Podolsk consolidated detachment began to retreat to reunite with the troops that were defended on the Nara River.

In this fierce battle, the Podolsk consolidated detachment lost about 2,500 cadets, while the enemy lost about 5 thousand people and up to 100 tanks were destroyed and knocked out. They completed their task - the enemy was detained, time was won.

Lieutenant Aleshkin.

The Germans called him the pillbox "reviving pillbox." The fact is that Aleshkin managed to disguise his bunker so well that the Germans at first did not understand where they were shooting from and then, when they had already dug the ground from large-caliber mortars, the sides of the reinforced concrete bunker were bare. There were no armored doors and armored shields then, any shell that exploded nearby constantly wounded our heroes, our boys. But Aleshkin chose a different tactic: at the moment when the Germans, having discovered his bunker, rolled out anti-aircraft weapons and fired at the bunker with direct fire, the Aleshkinsmen took their cannon, rolled it out to a reserve position and waited until the frontal shelling was over. The Germans saw with their own eyes that shells were bursting inside the bunker, well, nothing alive could remain there, and calmly, waddlingly, went to the assault, they believed that all the cadets were destroyed, and what could have survived after this crushing fire. But at some point, the pillbox came to life and started again! shoot: the guys rolled a cannon into the broken pillbox and again opened fire on the enemy soldiers and tanks. The Germans were dumbfounded!

Unfortunately, the Germans had extensive experience in breaking through fortifications: despite several successful shots from the bunker, they managed to bring an assault group to the rear of the bunker, which blew it up.

The cadets received the order to withdraw on October 18. During the retreat, they were surrounded, from which they had to break through. Later, the survivors were returned to complete their studies. They won a precious two weeks for the army, which made it possible to form a continuous front along Nara. The tank column destroyed on the highway remained on the road and in the ditches around it - the wrecked vehicles could not be restored.

Podolsk cadets really deserve to remain in the memory of grateful descendants. Yielding to the enemy in all the main means of struggle, having a pitiful defense in the form of a liquid chain of unfinished bunkers, they managed to do what was required of them, and gave the tank division a slap in the face, which was the most serious by the standards of 1941. Among the people who put the unlucky conquerors on a rampage, the combined detachment of the Podolsk schools occupies one of the places of honor.

Podolsk. Monument to cadets

Memorial "Ilyinsky frontier"

with. Ilyinskoe. Monument to cadets

with. Kudinovo. Monument to cadets

with. Kudinovo. Mass grave

No need for phrases about valor and courage.
Words are just words.
We were standing here. And not a step back.
We are lying here. But there is Moscow.
Vladimir Karpenko

with. Ilyinskoe. Meeting of veterans of battles at the "Ilyinsky Rubezh"