"Ilyinsky Frontier" with Sergei Bezrukov, Evgeny Dyatlov, Roman Madyanov, Daniil Spivakovsky, Ekaterina Rednikova and other famous actors. This is a picture of how, at a critical moment, young people came to the aid of Moscow and the whole country, who, with skillful actions and unparalleled courage, gave the time necessary to strengthen the defense of Moscow and thereby earned themselves eternal memory grateful offspring. The immortal feat of the Podolsk cadets and the memory of it will serve as an example for all subsequent generations of Russian soldiers and officers. After all, the Ilyinsky line, which the heroes occupied, could become the last obstacle on the enemy’s path to the capital. About three and a half thousand cadets of two Podolsk schools and their commanders stood before Moscow to the death ... Most of them remained at the turn forever.

Carefully preserves the memory of the heroes who rose in October 1941 at the Ilyinsky line to defend the Motherland. So, the producer of the film "Ilyinsky Frontier" is a member of the central council of the Russian Military Society Igor Ugolnikov. In addition, in 2019, a monument to Podolsk cadets will be opened at the Ilyinsky line, which will also be installed with the participation of the Russian Military Historical Society.

Which units, together with the cadet units, held the Warsaw highway? How long did it take the Soviet command to stabilize the front in the Ilyinsky direction? How did the famous battle of Podolsk cadets with German tanks take place and how many combat vehicles did the Nazis lose? To answer these questions and find out the details of the heroic defense, the correspondent of the Istoriya.RF portal met with military historian Alexei Mikhailovich Kalinin, co-author of the book Stopping the Typhoon.

“From horror, the Nazis fired at their units”

Promotion of German troops in the Yukhnov area

I would like to start with the question, why and under what circumstances did the situation arise in which we needed to bring cadets, future officers, to positions? What happened at the front if we needed such radical measures?

If we start with general events, then by October 1941, during Operation Typhoon, several “boilers” were formed, the main of which was the infamous Vyazemsky. And it is clear that during the withdrawal, the understaffed rifle units of the Red Army could not withstand the tank wedges of well-equipped enemy divisions. Thus, having closed the Vyazemsky cauldron, the enemy's mobile units go to Yukhnov, where by October 7 there were almost no troops along the entire length of the Varshavskoye highway towards Moscow.

The only ones who could stand in the way of the enemy at this critical moment were the paratroopers of the group of Captain I. G. Starchak. There is a moment that is poorly noted in the literature and quite forgotten: Starchak's group managed to blow up almost all the bridges around Yukhnov, which significantly complicated the advance of enemy tank columns. Then, retreating across the Ugra River, the paratroopers managed to create a front German intelligence the appearance that there are Soviet troops on the borders. In order to give precious time to our command and to bring up reinforcements from six officer schools in Moscow and Podolsk. Thus began the story of the famous feat.

- What forces did the cadet units have?

The advance detachment of cadets with only two 45-mm guns, together with the paratroopers, organized a line of defense on the Ugra River and in the Kuvshinovo-Red Pillars area. Between October 5 and 10, cadets and paratroopers fought with the enemy who had an advantage, even went on counterattacks, and the German tank corps struggled with a transport collapse and could not bring down their superior power on the small forces of the defenders. Plus, the Germans were still fighting the Vyazemsky pocket, which distracted them from further advance beyond the Ugra. And on October 5-7, while the paratroopers and the advance detachment of cadets held back the enemy, the normal filling of the Ilyinsky line with cadet units begins, as well as the approach of the well-equipped 17th tank brigade of Colonel N. Ya. Klypin.

T-34 breaks into German positions.

Participation in the battles of the 17th tank brigade is still very poorly reflected in the literature. Although its role is quite large: from October 7 to October 14, in the zone of our defense, the brigade acted boldly and conducted a mobile defense in the Myatlevo-Medyn section. The Warsaw highway itself was held by tanks, and the flanks were provided by cadets and motorized rifles. Moreover, there is some confusion of the enemy. Perhaps because of the mudslides, it was not uncommon for enemy motorcyclists to scout to slip along rural roads, and infantry regiments could not follow them, so the Germans stuck to the highway. After taking the Myatlevo station on the banks of the Shan River near Medyn, the 17th brigade inflicted heavy losses on the Germans. The tanks broke through to the shore occupied by the Germans; rolling out into their positions and crushing anti-tank guns, they shot at point blank range German equipment and destroyed property. One of the tanks that sank in Shan during these battles now stands in Medyn as a monument to the feat of the tankers.

Our tankmen, waging heavy battles, retreated with the remaining cadets of the forward detachment under the pressure of German tank divisions and constant air strikes. Moreover, periodically receiving orders to recapture Medyn, which, of course, was impossible: only a few tanks remained in the ranks.

- That is, a well-equipped brigade between Myatlevo and Medyn suffered heavy losses?

It is true that it is difficult with small forces of tanks to restrain the superior "armored fist" of an experienced enemy with the dominance of his aircraft. Although our pilots, both fighters and bombers, fought desperately. The enemy had, as usual, a multiple superiority in manpower and equipment in key areas and had well-equipped his units as early as September. The Red Army was forced to hold back large enemy forces on the Warsaw highway, including elite units of the SS troops. At the same time, the Germans are building up their forces, trying the road to Borovsk, which Soviet command also decided to block, for which they removed the 17th brigade. By the way, and there she showed herself very well. T-34s terrified the Nazis, sometimes they even fired at their own units, mistaking them for advancing Russian tanks.

“It was a perfectly executed“ fire bag ”

- Is the next line of our defense after Medyn already Ilinskoye?

One of the pillboxes of the Ilyinsky line

Yes, in the Ilyinsky area, even despite the withdrawal of tanks to Borovsk, we had a well-filled fortified area. From October 12, the feat of cadets begins to sound in full force. Having taken well-fortified and equipped positions, they waited for the enemy. Moreover, it is worth noting that these were trained, disciplined future officers, and not 18-year-old conscripts, that is, the quality of the personnel was at a high level, they didn’t take anyone to the school. And they were armed with powerful artillery.

- A few words about the boundary itself. Tell us what it was?

85 mm anti-aircraft gun 52-K

Of course, it was a very well-fortified line, there were concrete pillboxes, and very well-placed ones - so that the embrasures with guns looked sideways, therefore, you can’t hit the embrasure from the enemy, first you have to go around the pillbox. False wooden houses were built over the pillboxes, the enemy did not immediately understand where the fire was coming from, while the thickness of the walls made it possible to stay under powerful artillery fire. The armament consisted of 45 mm anti-tank and powerful 85 mm anti-aircraft guns, which were brought to direct fire and hit german tanks. The engineering preparation of the positions was also at its best: full profile trenches, a dismantled bridge - all this gave an advantage to our units. From the flanks, the positions were weaker, and the Germans subsequently passed there, but, apparently, they did not have time to prepare them. The enemy did not know and did not expect.

- Followed by a German strike?

Promotion of German troops along the Warsaw highway

The Germans carefully probed the line with the reconnaissance of the 19th Panzer Division, well-equipped and fresh. After the failures of reconnaissance and, however, not very successful counterattacks of the cadets, the following situation arose: the enemy could not strike from the left due to the lack of roads, but from the opposite flank, in the area of ​​​​the villages of Malaya and Bolshaya Shubinka, there were real, fierce battles in which the cadets - infantrymen threw back the enemy with bayonets, hand-to-hand fights were fought. It was real hell! With superior forces, the Germans begin to push the defending units of the fortified area, but Ilinskoye itself holds on. Shelling with heavy guns, air raids do not help either. Of course, the forces of the region were gradually drying up, the enemy took both Shubinki. It was simply impossible to get around Ilyinskoye, as in summer. Despite the breakthrough at Shubinka and access to the highway (it was believed that the Germans were already close to capturing Maloyaroslavets), Ilinskoye still held out. And without taking it, the enemy could not move further.

- This was the key moment in the defense at the Ilyinsky line?

Destroyed Germanpz. Kpfw.38(t)

Exactly. Leaving a small barrier in the direction of Maloyaroslavets, the German units that had made their way near Shubinka from the Cherkasovo region decided to strike at Ilyinsky from the rear. The enemy gathered a fairly powerful group of infantry and tanks. The largest battle of German tanks is taking place, and confirmed by German documents - it made such a strong impression on the Germans. 15 German tanks appeared from the rear, two Pz.Kpfw.-IVs, the rest - Czech "Pragues", Pz.Kpfw.38 (t), - a marching column, with infantry on armor.

Destroyedpz. Kpfw.- IV

Many note that there was a red flag on the lead vehicle: perhaps the Germans were trying to outwit our gunners, in the fog the cadets might have thought that this was a long-awaited reinforcement. Taking advantage of the fog, the Germans decided to enter Ilyinskoye from the rear, and the first part of the column succeeded - they were able to slip through the rear position of our anti-aircraft guns, and if our artillerymen mistook them for reinforcements, the Germans did not notice our camouflaged guns at all and continued to move in the column.

The tower was torn off from hits and explosions of ammunition at the "four"

When the cadets realized it, two anti-aircraft guns and two "magpies" fired on the side of the remaining German tanks in the second part of the column. The cars that had gone ahead tried to help their own and began to return, but they also came under fire and were destroyed. The remaining infantry was dispersed and fled in disarray, and the cadets, for fidelity, burned the wrecked tanks. It turned out a classic, and perfectly executed, "fire bag". Despite attempts to help this column from the front, the Germans lost 14 vehicles, one was able to escape.

“The issue of losses deserves a separate study”

You mentioned the strong effect that was produced on the enemy by the shooting of this column. Are we talking about famous photographs?

Quite right. The fact is that the entire advancing German tank corps and the units attached to it passed along this road. German soldiers saw a terrible picture of destroyed tanks for them, often photographed them. It must be said that the burnt out skeletons of German tanks made a very depressing impression on the advancing enemy units. The sight was unpleasant and unexpected for the Germans. And most importantly, Ilyinskoye got the opportunity to stand until October 16, and in some cases our individual centers of defense held out until October 18, when the order to withdraw was received. The command of the Red Army received that week, which, in the conditions of the October panic in Moscow and the generally difficult situation at the front, greatly helped to pull up reserves and close the gaps on the defense lines closer to Moscow.

If we talk about losses... There are opinions that the losses of cadets are underestimated, and figures are given from 5.5 thousand people and more, some revisionists would like to revise these data...

In my opinion, this issue deserves a separate study. We dealt with the losses of the 17th brigade, but, for sure, we cannot talk about 5 thousand losses, since headcount schools and divisions was lower, so these attempts cannot be successful. It is also interesting that, in fact, the first one who occupied the Ilyinsky fortified area, and the last one to leave it, was Lieutenant A.K. Deremyan, commander of an anti-tank gun platoon of the 19th Infantry Division. Now Deremyan's pillbox is well covered on the Internet, and I would recommend reading about it to those who are interested in the military history of the Fatherland.

- During the fighting, was the Red Army able to accumulate sufficient forces to hold the subsequent lines of defense?

Podolsk cadets

Yes, by consistently retreating, the Soviet troops managed to grind more and more German tanks. There is a well-known scene at the bridge in the village of Bukhlovka, which was mined so successfully that the enemy lost three vehicles at once: three German tanks are standing in the mud and a sign “Achtung minen” is stuck next to it. There will also be the village of Sparrows, on which two of our artillery regiments will work blindly. And at that moment, a tank group together with headquarters will gather in it, the enemy will lose several experienced commanders. In general, the Germans failed to advance further than Naro-Fominsk: the cadets were able to gain time, the paratroopers blew up the bridges, the tankers held back the enemy as much as they could, but the main thing is the feat of the cadets themselves, who, at the cost of their lives, gave the whole country the time it needed so much.

In general, with regard to our future officers, I must note that they were people with high morale, well trained, who were located in good positions and were able to competently use powerful weapons. This is an example of not only heroism, but also military skill.

At the 23rd meeting of the Council of Deputies of the city district of Podolsk, it was decided to establish a Day of Remembrance for Podolsk cadets. It will be celebrated on October 5 - it was this day in 1941 that became decisive in the fate of the young men, who later became heroes of the Great Patriotic War. Columnist "RIAMO in Podolsk" found out how the Podolsk cadets fought with the enemy and what is the great feat of young soldiers.

real heroes

Site "Afisha Podmoskovye"

The historical significance of the heroic deed of the Podolsk cadets in the battle for Moscow in October 1941 at the Maloyaroslavets combat site of the Mozhaisk line of defense lies in the fact that with their courage, courage, mass heroism and self-sacrifice, they, together with units of the 43rd Army, thwarted Hitler's plan for a lightning-fast capture of the capital of the USSR . The Podolsk cadets enabled the Soviet troops to create a strong defense on the Nara River and revive the Western Front.

In the battles for Moscow, 2.5 thousand cadets died. Their names were immortalized in monuments, street names of the cities of Podolsk, Maloyaroslavets, Bukhara, Saransk, Yoshkar-Ola and, of course, Moscow. In addition, five secondary schools bear the name of the Podolsk cadets, among them school No. 18 of the city district of Podolsk and school No. 4 of the Klimovsk microdistrict. Books, songs, poems have been written about the feat of the cadets. There is also a memorial sign "Veteran of Podolsk military schools."

young guys

Boris Chubatyuk

Podolsk cadets are called consolidated detachments, which consisted of students from military schools in Podolsk. In October 1941, they defended the southwestern approaches to Moscow.

The Podolsk Infantry School (PPU) was formed in January 1940. More than 2,000 cadets studied there. Since December 1940, Major General Vasily Andreevich Smirnov became the head of the school.

The Podolsk Artillery School (PAU) was formed in 1939, its head was Colonel Georgy Ivanovich Balashov, who was replaced by Colonel Ivan Semenovich Strelbitsky at the end of August 1941. By this time, about 1.5 thousand cadets were studying at the school for accelerated six-month training.

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, cadets of a new conscription were recruited in the PPU and PAU - boys who had just finished school. After studying for only three months, they were the first to defend the city of Moscow from fascist invaders. The guys knew that they were going to their death, but they could not retreat - the enemy was going to the capital.

Moscow under threat

In the first days of October 1941, in the Maloyaroslavets direction, there was a threat of the Germans coming out to Moscow. A significant part of the troops of the Western, Bryansk and reserve fronts of the Soviet army by this time were surrounded. Taking advantage of this, the German command sent the 57th motorized corps along the Warsaw highway, and on October 5 its advanced units occupied the city of Yukhnov. The enemy approached the Mozhaisk line of defense.

On the same day, October 5, the Podolsk military from the infantry and artillery schools were alerted. They had to resist the Nazis in order to delay their advance at any cost until the reserves of the High Command approached. This was an extreme measure, but there was no other way out: only 198 kilometers remained from Yukhnov to Moscow, and there were no troops to defend the capital on this path.

In order to gain time for the deployment of the main forces of the schools near Maloyaroslavets, an advance detachment was advanced to meet the enemy as part of the 6th company of the infantry school. On the evening of October 5, the cadets left Podolsk in cars, and on the morning of October 6, German units of the 57th Corps were thrown back from the Izverv River to the Ugra River.

Battle on the Ilyinsky lines

On October 10, the cadets of the advance detachment reached the Ilyinsky sector of the Maloyaroslavetsky combat sector and joined with the main forces of the Podolsk military schools. At noon on October 11, large-scale battles began, the enemy threw five tanks and a company of infantry into the battle, but the cadets destroyed them.

The enemy again tried to break into Soviet defense October 12, however, he managed to advance only 300 meters. At eight o'clock on October 13, the Nazis opened heavy fire from guns and mortars, enemy bombers flew in. The Nazis also brought equipment and infantry into battle. The enemy managed to capture the village of Bolshaya Shubinka.

However, at night, having engulfed the village from two sides, the cadets suddenly attacked the Germans. Early in the morning of October 14, the Nazis again began intensive artillery preparation, after which they threw aircraft at the cadets. By the end of the day, the enemy managed to capture the first and second trenches, but he could not completely break through the defense area.

A platoon of cadets of Lieutenant Timofeev took up defense near the village of Malaya Shubinka and fought in complete encirclement for the whole day on October 14. He fought off numerous enemy attacks. On the night of October 15, after breaking the encirclement, the five survivors again went to the location of the battalion.

Meanwhile, the depleted forces of the battalion continued to hold back the onslaught of the enemy that had penetrated the defenses, which, unfortunately, they could not destroy on their own. A reserve came to the rescue under the command of Captain Chernysh and political instructor Kurochkin.

Recent fights

On October 15, the remnants of the Podolsky cadets battalion, in cooperation with the detachment of Captain Chernysh, carried out seven attacks on the German positions, each of which ended in hand-to-hand combat. During one of the battles, Captain Chernysh and political instructor Kurochkin were killed. Artillery cadets showed miracles of heroism and self-sacrifice. Leaving no firing positions, they repulsed the incessant attacks of the Nazis.

The cadets of the 4th battery of Lieutenant Afanasy Ivanovich Aleshkin, which was located in the village of Sergievka on the Warsaw highway, especially distinguished themselves. The pillbox with the gun was well disguised as a wooden shed, the Germans could not recognize it for a long time and suffered heavy losses. When the gun was discovered, the Nazis surrounded the pillbox and threw grenades at it. Aleshkin died a heroic death along with six cadets.

On the same day, October 15, the roar of tank engines was heard. But now he was approaching not from the west, but from the east - from the direction of Maloyaroslavets. The soldiers hoped that reinforcements had arrived, but it turned out that they were enemy tanks. The fight was hard and brutal, but fleeting. The entire column of tanks was destroyed by Podolsk cadets, whose number, unfortunately, was also greatly reduced.

For five days the advanced detachment of the Podolsk military schools fought heroically, retreating from one line to another. The losses of the cadets were great, but the enemy suffered huge damage in manpower and equipment. In the battles for Moscow, the cadets were able to destroy 100 tanks and about 5 thousand Nazis. In the most difficult days of the war for Moscow, they won precious time, which allowed the Soviet High Command to bring up reserves from the depths of the country and save the capital from the German invaders.

5-03-2016, 16:23

Think about it, they were 17 year old boys

The 74th anniversary of the feat of the Podolsk cadets... 74 years ago, about 3.5 thousand cadets of the Podolsk military schools wrote another heroic page in our history. In October 1941, they stopped the Wehrmacht units that were rushing towards Moscow. Zhukov spoke to the cadets, saying only a few words: “Children, hold out for at least five days. Moscow is in mortal danger.”

Podolsk artillery and infantry schools were established in 1939-1940s. Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, up to 3 thousand people studied in them. The head of the Podolsk Infantry School was Major General Vasily Smirnov, and the Podolsky Artillery School was Colonel Ivan Strelbitsky. With the outbreak of war, Komsomol students from various higher educational institutions of the USSR were sent to these schools. The 3-year study program was reduced to a 6-month one. Many of the cadets of the schools had time before they entered the battle to study for only one month - September.

At the beginning of September 30 - October 2, 1941, the Wehrmacht launched Operation Typhoon. On October 5, enemy units captured Yukhnov and reached the approaches to Maloyaroslavets. In the defense of the Soviet troops on the Ilyinsky combat sector of the Mozhaisk line of defense of the capital, a gap was formed that the German command could use to reach Moscow. On the same day, an enemy convoy - 20 thousand motorized infantry and up to 200 tanks, which was moving along the Warsaw highway, was discovered by aerial reconnaissance.

There was no way out, the only reserve of the Headquarters in this direction were only the young men of these schools. On October 5, about 2 thousand cadets of artillery and 1.5 thousand cadets of infantry schools were withdrawn from classes on alarm and sent to the defense of Maloyaroslavets. The consolidated detachment of Podolsk cadets was given the task of blocking the path German troops in the Ilyinsky combat area for about 5-7 days, until the reserves are redeployed.

On October 6, 1941, the detachment arrived at the Ilyinsky combat site of the Maloyaroslavsky fortified area and took up defense along the Luzha and Vypreyka rivers from the village of Lukyanovo to Malaya Shubeika. Two lines of reinforced concrete pillboxes were erected there, but they did not have time to complete their construction - there was no camouflage, armored shields over the embrasures. The cadets installed their training artillery pieces in long-term firing points prepared in advance and took up defense on a 10-kilometer front, only 300 people per kilometer. Together with local residents, they hastily fortified the frontiers, dug an anti-tank ditch.

Even before the start of the main battles, the advance detachment of cadets met with a detachment of paratroopers under Captain Storchak. During the day, the paratroopers held back the enemy at the turn of the eastern bank of the Ugra River. Together with the cadets, they decided to organize a night counterattack, which turned out to be unexpected for the Germans. The paratroopers and cadets, holding back 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 thousand enemies. But they themselves suffered heavy losses, in the cadet companies of the forward detachment, up to two-thirds of the personnel perished.

On the morning of October 11, the enemy began fighting- the positions of the Podolsky consolidated detachment were subjected to massive air strikes and artillery fire. After that, a column of enemy armored vehicles with infantry tried to cross the bridge. But the German attack was repulsed.

On October 13, in the afternoon, the tank landing of the Nazis with the forces of 15 tanks was able to bypass the 3rd battalion, reach the Varshavskoe highway in the rear of the detachment. The Germans used a military trick and, in order to deceive the cadets, they fixed red flags on the tanks. But the deception was exposed, and the attempt to attack from the rear failed. In a fierce battle, the enemy was destroyed.

Failed attempts to break the spirit of the Soviet cadets with the help of propaganda leaflets. The "Red Junkers" were urged to surrender, to break their will with a false report that the Warsaw highway was captured almost to Moscow, and the capital of the USSR would be captured in a day or two. But no one gave up!

Soviet youth fought to the death, withstanding artillery and air strikes. Forces were melting, ammunition was running out, by October 16 only 5 guns remained in service. 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 died. Until the evening, the pillbox on the highway near the village of Sergeevka delayed the advance of the enemy, it was commanded by the commander of the 4th battery, Lieutenant A.I. Aleshkin. The calculation of the 45-mm gun knocked out several enemy combat vehicles. Only when it got dark, the enemy infantry was able to enter the rear of the garrison of the pillbox and throw grenades at it.

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 soldiers defending Kudinovo were taken into the encirclement, but they managed to break out of it. On the same day, the cadets received an order to withdraw. On October 20, the few surviving cadets of the Podolsky consolidated detachment began to withdraw to reunite with the troops who were defending on the Nara River. On October 25, the cadets who came out to their cadets were sent to Ivanovo to complete their training.

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

"Podolsk military artillery and infantry schools by 1941"

"In October 1941, 3.5 thousand

stopped a whole fascist division,

rushing to Moscow"

PodilArtillery and infantry schools were created in 1939-1940s. Before the start of the Great Patriotic War, up to 3 thousand people studied in them. The head of the Podolsk Infantry School was Major General Vasily Smirnov, and the Podolsky Artillery School was Colonel Ivan Strelbitsky. With the outbreak of war, Komsomol students from various higher educational institutions of the USSR were sent to these schools. The 3-year study program was reduced to a 6-month one. Many of the cadets of the schools had time before they entered the battle to study for only one month - September.“There were many among them who had never shaved, never worked, never went anywhere without mom and dad,”- later wrote in my memorieshead of the artillery school I.S. Strelbitsky. But this was the last reserve of the Headquarters in this direction, and she had no choice but to plug the giant gap formed in the defense of Moscow with the boys.

Podolsk Infantry School (PPU ) was formed in January 1940 and trained infantry platoon commanders in 4 training battalions. Each had 4 training companies of 120-150 cadets each. In total, more than 2,000 cadets studied here. The head of the school was, who already had combat experience, Major General V.A. Smirnov.

Building (1928) of the former industrial college.

In 1940-41. It housed the Podolsk Infantry School.

June issue of PPU 1941. June issue of PPU 1941. Photo from the field camp "Luzhki", that in the Serpukhov region.

I.S. Strelbitsky

FRAGMENT

A note scrawled on the vault wall

Article by Valentin Krylov: Lost regiment erased from memory? In the year of the 70th anniversary of the start of the war, the Ministry of Defense is going to demolish the barracks of Podolsk cadets

"On June 22, 2011, the Russian Ministry of Defense opens an exhibition of unique front-line documents from the Great Patriotic War in the Manege. Many of them were saved only thanks to the careful and caring attitude of the employees of the Central Military Archive, which was created after the war on the territory of the former Podolsk Artillery School. Its barracks became depositories of funds of divisions, armies and fronts of the Soviet army. Built thoroughly, of solid brick, they probably would have served as a reliable repository of combat documents for a long time, but the Ministry of Defense decided to raze them to the ground ....

The existence of a unique note left on the brick of the former cadet barracks is known to the Ministry of Defense. General Alexander Kirilin, head of the Military Commemoration Administration assured us that he would do everything possible to preserve this relic. To the question of our correspondent about the fate former buildings Podolsky Artillery School, he replied that it was unacceptable to demolish them - in addition to the fact that they themselves are architectural monuments, these barracks, from which Podolsk cadets left to defend Moscow, represent an important part of the history of the country that defeated fascism and could well become even would be a museum." (Free press; articleJune 21, 2011 11:42 am | Valentin Krylov)

On October 5, about 2 thousand cadets of artillery and 1.5 thousand cadets of infantry schools were withdrawn from classes on alarm and sent to the defense of Maloyaroslavets. The consolidated detachment of Podolsk cadets was given the task of blocking the path of the German troops in the Ilyinsky combat sector for about 5-7 days, until reserves were transferred.

Warsaw highway in the village of IlyinskyMaloyaroslavetsdistrict Kaluga region. October 1941.

On October 6, 1941, the detachment arrived at the Ilyinsky combat site of the Maloyaroslavsky fortified area and took up defense along the Luzha and Vypreyka rivers from the village of Lukyanovo to Malaya Shubeika. Two lines of reinforced concrete pillboxes were erected there, but they did not have time to complete their construction - there was no camouflage, armored shields over the embrasures. The cadets installed their training artillery pieces in long-term firing points prepared in advance and took up defense on a 10-kilometer front, only 300 people per kilometer. Together with local residents, they hastily fortified the frontiers, dug an anti-tank ditch.

Even before the start of the main battles, the advance detachment of cadets met with a detachment of paratroopers under Captain Storchak. During the day, the paratroopers held back the enemy at the turn of the eastern bank of the Ugra River. Together with the cadets, they decided to organize a night counterattack, which turned out to be unexpected for the Germans. The paratroopers and cadets, holding back 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 thousand enemies. But they themselves suffered heavy losses, in the cadet companies of the forward detachment, up to two-thirds of the personnel perished.

On the morning of October 11, the enemy began hostilities - the positions of the Podolsky consolidated detachment were subjected to massive air strikes and artillery fire. After that, a column of enemy armored vehicles with infantry tried to cross the bridge. But the German attack was repulsed.

Artillery pillbox to the right of the road on the territory of the Ilyinsky Frontiers Museum.

On October 13, in the afternoon, the tank landing of the Nazis with the forces of 15 tanks was able to bypass the 3rd battalion, reach the Varshavskoe highway in the rear of the detachment. The Germans used a military trick and, in order to deceive the cadets, they fixed red flags on the tanks. But the deception was exposed, and the attempt to attack from the rear failed. In a fierce battle, the enemy was destroyed.

Failed attempts to break the spirit of the Soviet cadets with the help of propaganda leaflets. The "Red Junkers" were urged to surrender, to break their will with a false report that the Warsaw highway was captured almost to Moscow, and the capital of the USSR would be captured in a day or two. But no one gave up!

An artillery pillbox to the left of the bridge ... you can clearly see how the concrete is literally blown up by explosions inside - the actino pillbox was shot from tanks.

Soviet youth fought to the death, withstanding artillery and air strikes. Forces were melting, ammunition was running out, by September 16 only 5 guns remained in service. 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 died. Until the evening, the pillbox on the highway near the village of Sergeevka delayed the advance of the enemy, it was commanded by the commander of the 4th battery, Lieutenant A.I. Aleshkin. The calculation of the 45-mm gun knocked out several enemy combat vehicles. Only when it got dark, the enemy infantry was able to enter the rear of the garrison of the pillbox and throw grenades at it.

Machine-gun pillbox on the territory of the museum.

Another machine gun pillbox.

An observation post with a loophole for mounting a rangefinder.

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 soldiers defending Kudinovo were taken into the encirclement, but they managed to break out of it. On the same day, the cadets received an order to withdraw. On October 20, the few surviving cadets of the Podolsky consolidated detachment began to withdraw to reunite with the troops that were defending on the Nara River. On October 25, the cadets who came out to their cadets were sent to Ivanovo to complete their training.

In this fierce battle, the Podolsky 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.

"Key information:
On October 4, 1941, the Germans were still 150 kilometers from Yukhnov. On October 5, at 5:30 am, they occupied Yukhnov and ended up in the rear of not only the Western, but also the Reserve Front. From Yukhnov to Moscow, 190 kilometers remained - several hours of tank travel. There were practically no troops on the Mozhaisk line of defense. Cadets of two schools in Podolsk were raised on alarm with an order to detain the Germans until the rest of the units approached.

The road to our settlement for about a kilometer goes straight along the line of defense (bunkers are visible on the side of the road). Museum and Eternal flame 100 meters from the road. Several enthusiasts prepared a selection of materials (including new translations from German, videos, photos, maps). Check it out. It's worth it."

Petr Lebedev. Mozhaysk line of defense

Memoirs-memoirs of one of the cadets

One hundred and sixth day of the war. Sunday, October 5, 1941 At about three o'clock in the afternoon, the deputy commander of the Moscow Military District, Lieutenant General Nikolsky, at the direction of the Headquarters, alerted both military schools (infantry and artillery), located in Podolsk near Moscow.

The task is to urgently form a forward detachment, reinforced by an artillery battalion, and advance in vehicles along the Varshavskoye highway towards the advancing enemy mobile units. The rest of the schools - by October 8, to occupy the southern section of the Mozhaisk fortified line in the area west of Maloyaroslavets. Warsaw was the name of the highway approaching Moscow from the southwest through Yukhnov, Medyn, Maloyaroslavets, Podolsk.

Many years later, the events of those days in Podolsk were reproduced in the footage of the epic film "Battle for Moscow". In the cinema, everything came out in a military way quickly and even beautifully. In reality, everything was different.

It turned out that it was not so easy to form even one artillery battalion at the school for action in the forward detachment. Weapons more or less suitable for combat were withdrawn from the training art park and even classes. Among them, I even saw long-decommissioned English anti-tank guns of the twenties. The battalions of the infantry school were on defensive work near Podolsk, and they managed to collect one company. The main difficulty is vehicles.

The artillery school was horse-drawn, there were few cars. The same was the case with our neighbors. Soon, civilian vehicles began to arrive at the military camp along with elderly drivers, already mobilized, but still in civilian clothes. These ordinary-looking peasants, as it soon became clear, were not only experienced drivers who knew their shabby cars well, but also very conscientious and courageous people. Rallies, as I recall, were not held. But it was already known that the schools were raised on the personal instructions of Stalin. Senior Lieutenant Mamchich, commander of the infantry school company, was appointed commander of the advance detachment, Captain Rossikov commanded our consolidated division, and senior political instructor Postnov was appointed commissar, who just the day before taught us a lesson on the history of the party.

As far as I remember, two batteries were formed: one of 45-mm anti-tank guns, the other (where I also got) - from 76-mm guns of the 1927 model, colloquially referred to as regiments. Gun crews were commanded by officers (then "medium commanders").

I became a cadet just two weeks ago. Me, like others who graduated high school, were selected from the division formed to be sent to the front. In the new environment, I felt lonely, besides, I was poorly trained in artillery. I was very worried about the fate of my relatives. The city, from which he left for the army in the first days of the war, was now in the hands of the Germans.

I will make a reservation right away that the memory of an ordinary cadet is not a very reliable basis for describing events at one of the borders near Moscow in the fall of the forty-first year. Therefore, I will try to back it up with archival documents and evidence available to me from other participants in the battles.

... Already in the dark, our column left Podolsk and on the march joined Mamchich's company, which formed the core of the advanced detachment. Cars with their headlights off slowly, as if by touch, moved along the highway. The cold wind, mixed with rain and snow "groats", cuts our faces, pierces through and through our dapper, tight-fitting, cadet overcoats. With chilled hands we hold the “colonel” fidgeting on the wet flooring of the body. And one thought does not leave for a minute: what awaits us ahead?

Last Reserve Bet

"October 5, 1941, the fifth month of the Great Patriotic War is already underway. German armored units are rapidly advancing on Moscow. During a reconnaissance flight, the pilots of the Moscow military district discover a column of German tanks that stretched for 25 kilometers, which I immediately report to the command The best crews fly out twice to check this information and, after it is confirmed, they report to Stalin about the critical situation on the Warsaw highway. There were no troops at the disposal of the headquarters of the supreme commander at that time yet."

Responsible class for page design: 10 A

creative team of the project: Magsumov Artem; Evseev Anton; Shevtsova Maria

project leader: Svirina Olga Aleksandrovna

On September 30, 1941, Nazi Germany and its satellites and allies launched an offensive against Moscow. The Fuhrer's plans to seize the Soviet capital before the approaching winter were seriously disrupted by the battle for Smolensk, which lasted two months. Although the Nazis still managed to capture the city and inflict a serious defeat on the units and formations of the Red Army defending Smolensk, time was lost. But Hitler and his entourage did not lose hope of taking Moscow before the cold weather. The forces of Army Group Center were concentrated in the Moscow direction with a total strength of 1,929,406 military personnel, including 72 (according to other sources, 78) divisions. The army group was armed with about 2 thousand tanks and self-propelled artillery mounts, 14 thousand artillery pieces and mortars, 780 aircraft.

For the defense of the capital, Stalin concentrated the forces of several fronts. Only the Western, Reserve and Bryansk fronts by September 30, 1941, numbered 1,250,000 people. Almost all the forces that the Red Army had in the capital region were thrown to the defense of Moscow. Civilian population was mobilized to build fortifications.

Meanwhile, the Nazis were rapidly advancing towards Moscow. October 3, 1941 troops Nazi Germany broke into Orel, on October 6, the 17th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht captured Bryansk, and the 18th Panzer Division captured Karachev. Three Soviet armies - the 3rd, 13th and 50th - were surrounded near Bryansk, and Colonel General A.I. Eremenko was seriously wounded and was evacuated to Moscow on a special plane. The situation in the Vyazma region was also extremely unfavorable. Here, 37 divisions, 9 tank brigades, 31 artillery regiments of the RGK and the controls of the 19th, 20th, 24th and 32nd armies were surrounded. Over 688 thousand Soviet soldiers and officers were captured, and among the prisoners were the commander of the 19th Army, Lieutenant General M.F. Lukin and the former commander of the 32nd Army, Major General S.V. Vishnevsky. The commander of the 24th Army, Major General K. I. Rakutin, died. Only 85,000 servicemen managed to break out of the encirclement.

In early October 1941, the enemy continued the offensive in the area of ​​Maloyaroslavets. On October 5, the Nazis occupied the city of Yukhnov (Kaluga region), however, on the Varshavskoe highway, the path to the advanced units of the 10th Panzer Division of the 57th Motorized Corps of the Wehrmacht was blocked by a small detachment of 430 paratroopers, commanded by the head of the parachute service of the Western Front, Captain Ivan Starchak. He raised paratroopers on his own initiative and for several days held the defense against the many times superior and well-armed enemy forces.

The forces that could be used in the defense of the capital became less and less. The cadets of military schools of the Moscow region remained in the reserve. On October 5, 1941, the personnel of the infantry and artillery schools located in Podolsk near Moscow were alerted. These military educational institutions were established in Podolsk in 1938-1940, when the USSR was rapidly increasing the size of the armed forces, paying special attention to the development of the military education system.

In September 1938, the Podolsk Artillery School was created, designed to train commanders of anti-tank artillery platoons. There were four artillery battalions at the same time in the school, consisting of three training batteries, each of which included 4 platoons. The personnel of each training battery consisted of about 120 cadets, and in total about 1,500 people studied at the Podolsk Artillery School. The head of the Podolsk Artillery School in 1941 was Colonel Ivan Semyonovich Strelbitsky (1890-1980) - a regular military man who passed civil war and at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, he commanded the 8th anti-tank defense artillery brigade, and then was appointed head of the school.
In the same Podolsk in January 1940, another military educational institution- Podolsk Infantry School, which trained commanders of infantry platoons. It also had 4 training battalions, each of which included 4 training companies of 120-150 cadets. The total number of cadets of the Podolsky Infantry School numbered more than 2,000 cadets.

Since December 1940, the Podolsk Infantry School was headed by Major General Vasily Andreevich Smirnov (1889-1979) - a former officer still tsarist army, a graduate of the Vilna Military School and a participant in the First World War, who rose in the imperial army to the commander of a battalion of the 141st Infantry Regiment of Mozhaisk, and then fought in the Civil War on the side of the Red Army. Immediately before his appointment as head of the school, Vasily Smirnov led a special group at the military council of the Moscow Military District, and before that he was assistant commander of the 17th Gorky Rifle Division of the Red Army.

Thus, by the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, there were more than 3,500 cadets in the Podolsk military schools. Mostly these were yesterday's schoolchildren, as well as young people with a complete secondary education, whom the military registration and enlistment offices selected for short-term training, followed by promotion to command ranks and sent to the front as platoon commanders.

When a serious gap appeared in the defense of the Soviet troops on the Ilyinsky combat sector of the Mozhaisk defense line of Moscow, the command had no choice but to raise the Podolsk military schools, forming a consolidated detachment of more than 3,500 people from their cadets. Later it became known that the instruction to direct the breaches of the Podolsk cadets to close the gaps was given personally by the Supreme Commander I.V. Stalin. The forward detachment of the infantry school, reinforced by an artillery battalion, advanced to the position near Maloyaroslavets. However, the command immediately ran into a big problem - it was not so easy to form even one artillery battalion at the school. One of the few miraculously surviving participants in the terrible battle, Pyotr Lebedev, recalled that in the training artillery park there were mostly obsolete artillery pieces, some of them even had to be taken out of the classrooms. But the most the main problem consisted in the almost complete absence of transport, since the artillery school was served by horses, there were no cars. I had to mobilize civilian drivers with cars of institutions and enterprises.

The personnel of cadet companies and batteries almost entirely consisted of yesterday's school graduates who managed to study at schools a few weeks after the start school year. After all, those cadets who managed to attend an accelerated course were already released into front-line infantry and artillery units. Therefore, completely inexperienced guys had to defend the trusted sector of the front. And it was they, the young Podolsk cadets who had just begun to master military professions, who accomplished an impressive feat, holding back the onslaught of selected Nazi armies.

River Izver. Typical small river Central Russia, only 72 kilometers long, flows on the territory of the Kaluga region. It was here, by a quiet river, that the advance detachment of Podolsk cadets took their first battle. A group of German motorized infantry on motorcycles and armored cars arrived in the river area. The attack of the paratroopers and cadets of the infantry school caught the Nazis by surprise. The enemy managed to be driven back far beyond the Izver River, to the western bank of the Ugra River. Of course, the cadets could not free Yukhnov with such small forces, but the first military victory inspired yesterday's boys very much. On October 6, the cadets took up defense at the Ilyinsky combat site. They had to defend positions on east coast Vypreyka and Puddle rivers, between the villages of Lukyanovo and Malaya Shubinka.

Hitler's command orientated quickly enough. Air raids began, then artillery shelling, and then German tanks moved to the positions of the Podolsk cadets. But the cadets held the line. Long-term firing points and long-term wooden and earth firing points were equipped, which allowed the cadets to conduct active fire at the enemy, causing serious damage to equipment and personnel. On October 13, desperate to break the resistance of the cadets in a frontal attack, the Nazi command came up with a deceptive maneuver. The tanks went to the rear of the heroic Soviet soldiers under red flags to create the appearance of "our own". But the cadets quickly understood the essence of what was happening and were able to destroy the advancing enemy tanks. The command of the advancing units of the Wehrmacht was furious - the "Red Junkers", as the Germans called the Podolsk cadets, broke all plans to quickly overcome the defense line.

On October 15, Major General Smirnov, head of the infantry school, seeing the difficult situation of the 3rd cadet battalion, put forward his reserve to help him. The cadets ran out of ammunition and had to go to the Nazis in a bayonet attack. By the morning of October 16, the cadets had only 5 artillery pieces left, and even those were equipped with incomplete gun crews.

On October 16, the Nazis again dealt a serious blow to the Ilyinsky combat sector. At first, tanks and artillery pieces suppressed the firing points of the cadets in pillboxes and bunkers. However, near the village of Sergeevka, one of the well-camouflaged pillboxes was never found by the Germans. It contained cadets under the command of the commander of the 4th battery of the Podolsk Artillery School, Lieutenant A.I. Aleshkin. The cadet Belyaev, who commanded the calculation of the 45-millimeter gun, managed to knock out several enemy combat vehicles. The Nazis surrounded the pillbox and attacked it from the rear, throwing grenades through the embrasure. Almost all the defenders of the pillbox were killed.

On October 17, the command post of the combined detachment had to be withdrawn to the village of Lukyanovo, where the 5th company of the Podolsky Infantry School was located, but already on October 18, the Nazis began to attack the command post here, after which the commander of the combined detachment, General Smirnov, led the remnants of the 5th and 8th The th cadet company organized the defense of the village of Lukyanovo. Only on October 20, the cadets began to withdraw from the line of defense, and on October 25 they were taken to the rear to further advance their studies - the schools were temporarily transferred to Ivanovo.

Of the 3500 people in the ranks, only about 500 people remained. Approximately 2,500 cadets and commanders of the Podolsk military schools died in battles with superior enemy forces. Since the bodies of the dead remained on the battlefields until December 1941 - January 1942, when they were buried, most of the dead cadets were never identified and were listed as missing.

The contribution of yesterday's schoolchildren to the defense of Moscow is enormous. Podolsk cadets destroyed about 5 thousand German soldiers and officers, 100 tanks and armored personnel carriers. While the "Red Junkers" held back the advance of the enemy forces, they managed to create and strengthen new line defense and draw up reserves. Those Podolsk cadets and commanders who were lucky enough to survive the defense of Moscow later fought on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War. So, one of the few surviving cadets, Mikhail Lev, had an amazing fate. Got wounded in German captivity, he managed to escape, became a scout, and then chief of staff partisan detachment, and after the war - a writer. It was Mikhail Lev who was one of the first to tell the world about the feat of his classmates - Podolsk cadets in the chapter "Cadets" of the autobiographical book "Partisan Trails" (1948).

On November 9, 1941, the head of the Podolsky Artillery School, Ivan Strelbitsky, received the rank of Major General, commanded artillery in the 60th Army, 3rd Shock Army, 2nd guards army, in 1944 he became a lieutenant general, continued to serve after the end of the war. In 1954-1956. Lieutenant General Ivan Strelbitsky served as chief Radio engineering troops. The head of the Podolsk Infantry School, Vasily Smirnov, also went through the entire war - he commanded the 2nd Moscow Rifle Division, the 116th Red Banner Kharkov Division, and after the war he led the military cycle of the Military Pedagogical Institute Soviet army, then until 1964 - military department Moscow Institute of Foreign Trade.

The feat of Podolsk cadets began to be studied by the twentieth anniversary Great Victory– in 1965. In 1966, schoolchildren from the city of Klimovsk and Komsomol members of Podolsk made a special multi-day trip to the places of military glory of Podolsk cadets. In 1975, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Victory, a monument to Podolsk cadets was erected in Podolsk, in 1985 - a monument in Saransk and a memorial on the Warsaw highway. Five schools named after Podolsk cadets Russian Federation. Songs and literary works are dedicated to the memory of brave young fighters.