The biography of General Anatoly Nikolaevich Pepelyaev still attracts the attention of researchers and enthusiasts studying Russian history. One of the numerous but vivid episodes in the string of nightmare that any civil war always brings with it is the famous Yakut campaign of General Pepelyaev. The rebellion showed the courage and tragedy of the people of the former Great Russian Empire, becoming a formidable reminder to posterity of what the collapse and split of society lead to for the sake of various political forces, ready to prove their right to power even with arms in their hands.
Youth and formation of the Russian officer Pepelyaev
The personality and biography of General Pepelyaev, unfortunately, are little known to a wide range of people. He was undeservedly forgotten and tried not to be mentioned in Soviet times. But history exists not only to remember, but also to learn lessons.
Born in the family of a Russian officer, the boy knew from childhood that he would devote his life to serving the Fatherland. He was born in Tomsk on July 15, 1891. The family was large: two sisters and five brothers. Father, GeneralLieutenant Nikolai Pepelyaev, sent his son to study in the Omsk Cadet Corps. Teachers found Anatoly kind, quick-tempered, proud, stubborn, but truthful. There were cases of insolence towards teachers. But from everything it was clear that the boy liked the Kadets. However, all the sons, except for the eldest, received an excellent military education.
The year 1908 has come and Anatoly enters the Pavlovsk military school in St. Petersburg. He was completely absorbed by his studies: tactics, military history, foreign languages, chemistry, military topography - this is not the whole list of disciplines studied. At the school, he became more serious about learning, but the discipline was still lame.
The future general managed to get 16 pen alties in two years. Judging by the description that the teachers left, it turns out that the cadet Pepelyaev very easily fell under the influence of comrades who were notorious. At the same time, the young man handled small arms well and was physically developed and strong, and his nature required vigorous activity.
Even having flaws in discipline, he managed to graduate from college with the rank of second lieutenant. That is, he was a graduate of the 1st category. And for this, a necessary condition was to score at least 8 points out of 10 possible in military disciplines, and in the knowledge of combat service to get at least 10 points. Training at the school took 2 years and the young lieutenant Anatoly Nikolaevich Pepelyaev returned in triumph to his native Tomsk in 1910.
The beginning of a military career
Hissent to serve in the machine gun team. This company-level unit in the tsarist army consisted of 99 people, there was a commander, 3 chief officers. And one of them was older, and two younger. It was one of these junior chief officers that Lieutenant Anatoly Nikolaevich Pepelyaev began his career.
Such a unit was armed with 9 machine guns and fully or partially belonged to companies or battalions. Therefore, great importance was given to the issues of interaction. Two years after the start of his service in the 42nd Siberian Rifle Regiment, Lieutenant Pepelyaev married Nina Ivanovna Gavronskaya. But the impending World War I prevented happiness.
Shortly before the start of this monstrous tragedy, Pepelyaev received a promotion to the rank of lieutenant and a new position - the head of the regiment's intelligence team. Three weeks after the declaration of war, his regiment was sent to the Northwestern Front.
Pepeliaev in World War I
The scouts under the command of Lieutenant Pepelyaev proved themselves already in the first months of their arrival at the front. Several successful raids were carried out in the area of the town of Graevo, the town of Markrabovo. For this, he was awarded the Orders of St. Anne 4, 3 and 2 degrees, the Order of St. Stanislav 3 degrees. The scouts were lucky, and they were proud of their commander. But 1915 was rich in events that tested the strength, power and fortitude of the Russian tsarist army. We are talking about the six-day Prasnysh battle.
July 30, 1915 attackedGerman troops, having almost twofold superiority in the sector of the front, which was defended by the Siberians. The 11th Siberian Rifle Division, in which Lieutenant Pepelyaev served, consisted of 14,500 bayonets. By evening, no more than 5000 combat-ready fighters remained.
The soldiers, showing miracles of courage, felt the force of the main blow of the Germans, but did not flinch and remained faithful to the oath and military duty to the end. They had to retreat, but the plan of the fascist command was thwarted: they failed to encircle the Russian group in Poland.
Fate kept the future Major General Pepelyaev from a bayonet and a bullet, but did not save him from a fragment. After the operation, he was eager to fight. Pepelyaev categorically rejected all persuasions about evacuation. He felt how his soldiers and comrades needed him. And to leave everyone because of a “light”, in his opinion, injury is not possible for the honor of a Russian officer.
The hardships and hardships of the First World War. The beginning of the collapse of the army
Not having time to properly recover from the wound, the lieutenant again rushes into battle, and the command promotes him to the rank of staff captain. He continues to command his Siberian scouts and show miracles of heroism.
On September 18, 1915, a dangerous situation arose in the battle near the village of Borovaya. Pepelyaev's detachment guarded the right flank and conducted reconnaissance of the combat sector of the 11th Siberian Rifle Division. The Germans, having a fourfold superiority, almost came close to the positions of our troops, and if they had captured them, they would have created extremely unpleasant conditionsfor the defense of an entire division. There was no time to think. The captain personally led the counterattack of his scouts, and the Siberians did not blunder. They not only threw back the intruding enemy back, but also returned their positions. In this battle, over a hundred Germans were destroyed, they themselves lost two soldiers.
You can continue to list no less glorious episodes in the biography of General Pepelyaev, but alarming trends have already been outlined in the Russian army. People began to slowly but surely get tired of the military confusion and the senselessness of what was happening. Only the Pepelyaev reconnaissance detachment did not have time for sadness and general despondency. The sequence of events in that terrible meat grinder was too bright. But the command appreciated the rich combat experience of the brave officer, and sent him to a front-line school.
The losses of the Russian army were colossal. Society increasingly asked questions about the advisability of continuing such a war. To this we can add the agitation that the Bolsheviks successfully launched at the fronts. All these and many other reasons caused confusion and vacillation, giving rise to the question in the soul of a simple Russian soldier: “What should I die for?”
Brest-Litovsk peace is a slap in the face for a Russian soldier
According to the memoirs of Major General Pepelyaev, he met the revolution at the front. Many factors influenced the collapse of the army and the loss of its combat capability. Along with this, the destruction of everything old took place, a new, incomprehensible, appeared. For example, the election of commanders, democratization in the armed forces. How this affected the power of the army is not worth explaining. In the militaryenvironment, not without reason, the mediocre Nicholas II and his government were considered guilty of what was happening, so many met the February Revolution and the abdication of the king from the throne absolutely calmly.
Russian patriots still hoped for victory, but every day this hope melted away. The October Revolution and the signed separate Treaty of Brest-Litovsk - the ground was slipping from under our feet. Everything that the Russian patriots believed in was crumbling before our eyes. Pepelyaev could not change the situation, but he was also not going to put up with it. He needed time to think carefully about everything. And he went to his native Tomsk.
The fight against the Bolsheviks as a remedy for depression
Returning from the war, Pepelyaev did not forgive the Bolsheviks for their treacherous stab in the back. He, like many whites, dreamed of revenge. Anatoly Nikolaevich Pepelyaev, a general of the White Army, considered himself, judging by his recollections, a "populist". Those contradictions that arose in the society of the former Russian Empire could not be resolved peacefully.
A bloody fratricidal war loomed ahead, eclipsing even the First World War in its cruelty and stupidity. Western states condemned a separate peace and were happy to support the recalcitrant white movement for the sake of fat profits.
On May 31, 1918, his hometown was cleared of the Bolsheviks. Now Pepelyaev and his associates could get out of the underground and form their own corps to repel the "red plague", which this group did. The Central Siberian Corps was formed, and the results were not long in coming. alternately cameliberation of Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Verkhneudinsk. The military career continued its dizzying rise. He is given the rank of major general.
Anatoly Pepelyaev, general of the "white" movement, received his rank at the age of 27. But with all the talents and phenomenal luck, he had some peculiarities in behavior that alarmed the experienced military. On principle he refused to wear shoulder straps, believing that power should pass to the peasantry and the countryside. He not only despised the old regime, but also fiercely hated it, ready even with weapons in his hands to prevent its return.
His views and some actions testify, rather, to the ex altation and immaturity of the personality. He was proud of the fact that he never gave the order to be shot. But this did not mean that terror was not gaining momentum on both sides. Being in his illusory world, he refused to understand that a civil war is a qualitatively new level of confrontation. Young General A. N. Pepelyaev firmly believed in his ideals, and this would later play a cruel joke on him and on those who went with him on the famous Yakut campaign. As a soldier, he was never able to accept and come to terms with the barbaric inhuman cruelty that war brings.
The Capture of Perm
General Pepelyaev and his troops arrived in the Urals. They rushed to Perm, but ahead of them was opposed by the 3rd Army of the Red Army. It cannot be said that the “red” situation was stable. There were problems with the supply and morale of the fighters. Moreover, in the ranksBolsheviks served a significant number of people who sympathized with the "white" movement. Another significant factor influencing the course of the overall battle was that the planning of operations was spontaneous, and the level of training of officers left much to be desired.
"White" General Pepelyaev and his troops favorably differed from their opponents: they were better prepared and had excellent combat experience. In addition, they had agents at the headquarters of the 3rd Army. General Pepelyaev recognized Kolchak's leadership and acted on his orders.
The assault on the city began on December 24, 1918 in 30-degree frost. The resistance of the "Reds" was suppressed during the day. The remaining Red Army soldiers in a hurry crossed the Kama River. The film recounts the events of those troubled years. It describes the Civil War, the capture of Perm and General Pepelyaev. The film is known at the box office as Contribution.
Unsuccessful trip to Vyatka
Perm was taken, but it was necessary to continue the offensive, and General Pepelyaev continued his march to the west. The frosts intensified, and the advance stalled. The offensive continued only in March. He stubbornly advanced towards Vyatka.
All the other commanders of the "white" movement were much less lucky: their offensive attempts were repulsed by the Red Army and even a situation arose that threatened the entire Kolchak group. Their retreat was unorganized and more like a flight.
The army of Anatoly Nikolaevich Pepelyaev covered the retreat of Kapel and Voitsekhovsky. In spite ofheroic efforts, the end was inevitable. His army was completely destroyed, and the general himself fell ill with typhus. But fate wanted him to survive. It was already a different person: he was disappointed in the "white" movement, and with the "red" he was clearly not on the way, so he decided to emigrate.
Harbin. Life in exile
Former General Anatoly Pepelyaev courageously met all the hardships and hardships in a foreign land. He mastered the profession of a carpenter, a fisherman. Survived by other odd jobs. It was necessary to learn to live without war and become a breadwinner. And he did it. He was an active person and therefore soon founded artels of loaders and carpenters.
But the past didn't want to let him go. The unsubdued from Kolchak's defeated army constantly turned to him for help. Everyone dreamed of returning to their native Russia. General Anatoly Pepelyaev himself dreamed about this, otherwise, how to explain that he allowed himself to be persuaded again into an obvious adventure.
There was a trip to Yakutia to support the rebels. How to explain such a decision is an excellent topic for numerous disputes and disputes. And funding for this obviously crazy idea was found. The businessmen quickly realized that it would be possible to organize a clearly uncontrolled fur trade there and, having compared all the risks, reluctantly allocated funds. General A. N. Pepelyaev was ready to support 750 people. With 2 machine guns and about 10,000 light machine guns, the detachment was ready to move into the inhospitable wastelands of Yakutia.
Yakut campaign of the generalPepelyaeva
In early September 1922, soldiers of the Siberian Volunteer Brigade landed in Okhotsk and Ayan. The Tungus warmly welcomed them, considering them their deliverers, and handed over about 300 deer - the main draft force in those places. Despite this, it became obvious to the SDD participants that the campaign was poorly prepared, however, they soon received reinforcements with people and provisions.
By the beginning of 1923, the Red Army had successfully defeated all the forces of the "white" movement, and therefore the fateful decision was made to advance to Yakutsk. Winter road of General A. N. Pepelyaeva became a serious test for the soldiers of the Russian people. But even worse were the fighting in those conditions.
The meeting with the Red Army detachment of I. Strod interfered with the plans of the Siberian Volunteer Brigade. General Pepelyaev suddenly decided to break this division of the Red Army at all costs. But his wards were doomed. They fought back to Ayan, where they surrendered.
Court. Life in prison
Pepeliaev and Strod were noble people, without meanness in their souls. Strode defended him in every possible way in court. The testimony indicated that his recent opponent, General Pepelyaev, did not use atrocities and executions. The former "white" general stopped them and Strode considers him a humane person. But the court was relentless.
General Anatoly Nikolaevich Pepelyaev was sent to serve his sentence in the Yaroslavl political isolator. Years in solitary confinement, and then he was graciously allowed to write letters to his wife. July 6, 1936Pepelyaev was released. But it wasn't for long. The terrible year of 1937 was approaching, and already in August he was again returned to prison. In Novosibirsk, in January 1938, the death sentence was read to him. This is the answer to the question of how General Pepelyaev died.
However, he repeated the fate of millions in Russia. Historians and researchers will return more than once to the tragic fate of this great Russian officer. He knew the ups and downs, but continued to love Russia and tried to help her by virtue of his strength and understanding. General Pepelyaev is a fragment of the past and a symbol of a real Russian officer.
Reading some excerpts from his diary, you involuntarily are horrified by the suicidal longing that settled in his soul during the famous Yakut campaign. And it remains only to be amazed at how he found the strength in himself to continue the struggle with people and with himself.
By all indications, he was in the deepest depression. Pepelyaev tossed between the desire to shoot himself or run wherever his eyes looked. What is it? The onset of a serious illness as a result of living in stress for the past few years? Or the realization came that the Russia he knew had changed completely and irrevocably, and Pepelyaev could not save her. It remains only to guess. But surrender without a fight to the Red Army leaves a disgusting sense of shame and confirms the rule: war is not a place for romantics. This is soul-searing work, cruel and bloody, where there is no place for sentimentality and chivalrous bowing.
