General Tyulenev is a veteran of four wars and the owner of military orders and medals of four states. From a young age, Ivan Vladimirovich decided to devote his life to the military cause and since then has repeatedly shown courage and heroism in the battles for his Fatherland.
General Tyulenev became a prototype for the main characters of several novels and short stories. In Soviet times, his life path was set as an example for the younger generation. The name Tyulenev named several streets in the territory of the former Soviet Union.
General Tyulenev: biography
Ivan Vladimirovich was born in the territory of modern Ulyanovsk region in 1892. His father was a veteran of the war in the Balkans against the Ottoman Empire. In the village of Shatrashany, Ivan attends a local school. However, then the events of 1905 take place, which seriously affected the life of the future commander.
The autocratic regime tightens its control over all spheres of society. Workers work under intolerable conditions, and the land is taken from the peasants. Rebellious moods are growing among the people. It all comes to the point that the workers of St. Petersburg go to the Winter Palace to request the tsar’s audience. But the rally is brutally suppressed by the troops. These events lead to a mass uprising of the working class throughout the country.
Rebellious father
Unhappy with the regime, Ivan's father joins the rebels. Together with other rebels, he sets fire to the estate of the local prince. These events will then be repeatedly remembered by General Tyulenev. Ivan's family was always worried about the justice and freedom of his people. But after the failure of the uprising, the father has to go on the run, fleeing repression. Ivan goes to Astrakhan, where he arranges to work in the fields. He fishes in the Caspian. The persecution of his father even then laid in him hatred of the tsarist regime. After six years of hard work, the future General Tyulenev returned to his native village, from where he was drafted into the army.
Service start
After the call, Ivan Vladimirovich is sent to Kazan, where he serves in the Dragoon regiment. After a short training, he was sent to the front. The First World War began. The first battle awaits a young man in the territory of the Kingdom of Poland. At the Pilica River, his unit enters into a heavy battle with the Austrian troops. After that, they are sent to Krakow, where they also hold the defense.
The fighting on the fronts of the First World War is associated with a huge number of difficulties. Due to the poor industrialization of the Russian Empire, logistics is not working well. Troops move slowly, reserves arrive at the wrong time. The constant lack of food and even ammunition for artillery. Despite this, the future General Tyulenev fights bravely and fiercely. During the fighting, he became the full holder of the St George Cross.
War on the territory of Poland
Tyulenev’s unit made a daring operation near Panevezys. On the battlefield, soldiers were delivered on echelons, and right from them they went on the offensive, knocking the enemy back several kilometers. And next summer, the cavalry division fought on the shores of Bzura, where the most difficult battles took place on the entire front line. Tyulenev is promoted for his demonstrated skills - he becomes an ensign, he is entrusted with a platoon.
Demobilization
After returning home, Ivan Vladimirovich sees hunger, poverty, the arbitrariness of the tsarist regime. Tens of thousands of people killed in an incomprehensible war are silently crushing society. The October Revolution begins. Like his father, Tyulenev joins the rebels.
The Bolsheviks treated war veterans well. After all, they were not only valuable fighters, but also a good tool for promoting the population. As part of the Red Guard, Ivan fights in the East against the White Guards. Immediately commands a whole platoon, distinguished himself in battles not only by his personal courage, but also by his skillful planning.
In 1918, the Bolsheviks were reforming their units, creating the Red Army. Ivan Vladimirovich goes to Moscow refresher courses. After that, he holds staff positions in various military formations. It mainly consists of intelligence departments. Continues the war on the front line in the territory of the former Kingdom of Poland. After returning, he continues his training and commands an infantry regiment.
Assault on the rebel stronghold
At this time, unrest begins in Kronstadt. Separate parts of ship brigades and residents of the city capture the fortress. At this time, the young country of the Soviets is going through difficult times. The post-war famine, the devastation and the economic blockade of the Western countries hit the morale of the Red Army and the working people very hard. As a result, some of them rebelled against the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. General Tyulenev Ivan, who was not far from the scene, was critical of the rebels. Their requirements include the restoration of free trade and artisanal production.
A few days after the failed negotiations, the troops launched an assault on the fortress. According to some reports, the division of Ivan Tyulenev advanced on ice. However, many modern historians consider this an artistic embellishment of communist poets. After the suppression of the rebellion, Tyulenev was entrusted with a new cavalry division.
Polish hike
After the suppression of the uprising, Ivan Tyulenev continued to occupy various positions in the workers and peasants of the Red Army under construction. In 1939, the Soviet leadership decided to occupy the eastern part of Poland - the modern territory of Western Ukraine and Belarus. On September 17, secret letters are issued to the commanding staff containing orders for crossing the state border.
At dawn, the Red Army emerges throughout the territory and quickly moves through Polish territory. The Polish army does not enter into hostilities with the Red Army, the local population also does not show any resistance. However, the operation was rather complicated, since Tyulenev’s twelfth army had to maneuver a few hours from the Wehrmacht.
After a successful Polish campaign, Ivan Tyulenev continues to advance along the steps of the military hierarchy. In 1940, along with Zhukov and Meretskov, General Tyulenev received personal approval from Stalin himself. Education received at the Military Academy of the Red Army (1922), allows him to command the military district. In this position, he meets the beginning of a new world war.
The Great Patriotic War
In June 1941, the Southern Front of Soviet troops was formed. On behalf of the rate of the Commander-in-Chief, General Ivan Tyulenev manages it. At distant frontiers, he is holding back the breakthrough of German and Romanian divisions. Against three hundred and sixty thousand people, the Nazi war machine put up six hundred ninety thousand people and almost a thousand aircraft.
Soviet troops managed to inflict tangible losses on the enemy, but at the same time they constantly retreated to the east. The Red Army initially had air superiority, however, from the first days, Nazi aircraft began to bomb airfields, many aircraft were destroyed right in the hangars. Those that remained could not make sorties due to damaged landing strips. Seeing the difficult situation, Tyulenev gives the order to withdraw troops beyond the Dniester River. Stalin was dissatisfied with the actions of the general, this was reflected in his letters published after the death of the leader.
Despite the huge losses and the most difficult situation, Tyulenev managed to maintain stability and prevent the stampede of troops, which took place on the territory of Belarus and the Baltic.
Retreat
Gradually retreating, Soviet troops lose territory. The next line of defense is the most important Dnieper river. In the city of Dnepropetrovsk organized fortified area. Army General Tyulenev takes up defense here. The shocking German group is commanded by von Kleist, the genius of a breakthrough defense.
But near Dneprodzerzhinsk he was dealt serious damage. One of the divisions occupied the defense in a semicircle and actually lured the Wehrmacht tank wedges into a trap. When the Nazis entered the so-called fire bag, flares announced the beginning of the shelling. In this direction, the Nazis suffered huge losses. However, the availability of reserves allowed them not to reckon with the number of victims. By the end of summer, Soviet troops left Dnepropetrovsk to free the city only two years later. During the most severe battles, General Tyulenev Ivan Vladimirovich was seriously injured. He was sent for treatment in Moscow.
Reserve army
After treatment, Tyulenev led the creation of a reserve army. After its formation, she joined the army. In the winter of 1942, Ivan Vladimirovich sent to Tbilisi, where the headquarters of the Transcaucasian Front is located. He immediately begins to reform the headquarters. The defensive lines here are outdated and do not correspond to strategic goals. Building the defense of the front, Tyulenev took note of the possibility of a breakthrough from Turkey. Boundaries were set in difficult mountainous terrain. In winter, many passes were closed, but the offensive was expected closer to summer, when the Nazis could break through the ridge along hidden paths from aerial reconnaissance.
Therefore, in the conditions of biting frost and heavy snowfall, the Red Army built firing lines. Almost every possible direction of impact was taken into account. Later, the Nazi offensive will confirm the correct location of the defensive lines of the Transcaucasian Front.
Battle for the Caucasus
In the summer of 1942, the Nazis launched an offensive in the Caucasus. This direction was extremely important for Hitler, as he dreamed of capturing the Baku oil wells, which would feed his war machine, bringing death. According to his plan, German troops were supposed to attack both Stalingrad and the Caucasus.
On July 25, Army Group South launched an offensive on the Kuban. Soviet troops were defeated and began to retreat east. Quickly moving forward, the Nazis could cut through the front and surround the Red Army, so the order was given to leave behind Don. In August, Tyulenev nominated fighters on the defensive lines near the Terek. The main blow took place in the area of Novorossiysk. The city was almost completely captured.
Counterattack
As a result of the successful counterattack, the Soviet troops managed to inflict a heavy defeat on the Romanian army, the personnel of which were almost completely destroyed. In early September 1942, the Nazis crossed the Terek and began to advance on Mozdok.
Soviet troops occupied a stubborn defense, but a few days later were driven back. The fate of Transcaucasia was decided on the Main Dividing Range. Its defense was arranged by General Tyulenev. Aerial photography made it possible to have a detailed view of all the possible places for the enemy to break through. In mountainous areas, small detachments set up firing positions and undermined undisclosed trails. In the event of a fall in defense, special measures were taken to bring down rocks in order to slow down the advance of the Nazis. At the same time, a bloody battle is being fought for Stalingrad.
In the autumn of 1942, the most bloody battles took place in the Caucasus. Despite the huge number of German divisions in this direction, the Tyulenev front survived. Already in the winter of 1943 the offensive of the Red Army began. Novorossiysk and Krasnodar were liberated, a unique operation was carried out to land and seize a bridgehead in the rear of the enemy. After the liberation of the Caucasus and Kuban, the general of the Soviet Union Tyulenev took up the defense of the southern border of the country.
Life after the war
In the postwar years, Ivan Vladimirovich held senior positions in several military districts. And in 1947, a general inspection commission was created, which included General Tyulenev. Education and experience gained during the war years, allowed him to improve the strategic plans of the Red Army. Ivan Vladimirovich Tyulenev died in 1978 in Moscow. In the Ulyanovsk region, the avenue bears his name, since it was there that General Tyulenev was born.