A volunteer from God
In the pool of unrest broke the fate and ascended someone's stars. For the Reds, a vivid example here is the way of the former non-commissioned officer, who rose to the rank of Marshal, Semyon Budyonny, for the whites - this is Yakov Aleksandrovich Slashchev. His fate is as surprising as it is tragic, besides it is mythological.
For many, the image of Slashchev is still strongly associated with the personality of General Khludov from the film “Running.” It should be noted that neither extensive memoir literature, nor scientific and journalistic works give an unambiguous assessment to Slashchev-man except, perhaps, the largest domestic expert on the White movement, Andrei Kruchinin, in positive colors depicting the image of the legendary general. But what is remarkable: both the red and the white highly valued his military talent.
The biography of Yakov Alexandrovich before the First World War is unremarkable: he was born in 1885 in a noble military family and, having matured, continued his father's work, also choosing the path of an officer, leaving behind him the Pavlovsk military school and the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff. Studied Slashchev unevenly - the first two courses he graduated in 1-th category, but did not get additional points for assignment to the General Staff. After graduation, he taught tactics in the Corps of Pages. Let us dwell on this fact in more detail. The fact is that he is often put on a par with such "demons of war" as Shkuro, Annenkov, von Ungern-Sternberg. Their star has risen in the flames of the Civil War, and they are difficult to attribute to the military intelligentsia - they are practitioners, but not theorists. But just the same broad outlook and intelligence Slashchev does not fit into this cohort.
With the first volleys of the First World War, Yakov Aleksandrovich was in the ranks of the life guards of the Finnish regiment. She volunteers leaving her young wife at home during the last month of pregnancy.
Among those who volunteered to go to the front was the poet Nikolai Gumilev, who wrote: “And in the roar of the human crowd, in the buzz of passing guns, in the silent call of the war trumpet I suddenly heard the song of my destiny ...” People like Slashchev always responded to such a voice and never waited subpoenas. Their lot on the battlefield is courage and contempt for death. Head Slaschova - the commander of the Finnish Regiment Major General Baron Paul Claude von Jurgensburg recalled: "Infinitely brave, but bravery oblivion or blind courage of the ordinary, but consciously brave chief, Yakov put together with this precious quality of all the talents of a large military leader: a love for military case , excellent military education, firm, decisive character, amazing ability to grasp the situation, etc. In his modest role as a company battalion commander Yakov Aleksandrovich put I guess forethought the course of military events. It was clear that he possesses the secret of military art, which allows him to supplement his usual methods of judgment about events with some sort of inner sense. ”
From Kruchinin’s work dedicated to Slashchev: “Exactly at one o'clock, appointed to attack, minute per minute, he gets up to his full height, removes his cap, earnestly baptizes and goes forward with a naked saber, leading companies to death or victory ...”
The above quote makes it more detailed to touch on the topic of courage, mentioned above, and sometimes even the bravado of Slashchev, under enemy fire. What is it, just the deliberate contempt for death in the style of Napoleon's marshal Murat, who had breakfast under the fire of Russian artillery? No, it is quite deliberate action, due to the care of the soldier. Reasons for her, recalling his participation in the Russian-Japanese war, was named by Lieutenant-General Anton Denikin: “I had an elevation on my right flank, from which I could clearly observe the movements of the Japanese. He is the main attack. The strongest fire, you can not raise your head. The commander of the nearest company, the captain of the Chembarsky regiment, Bogomolov, walks along the chain to its full height, checking the sights ... "Captain, why are you doing this, bend down!". "You can not, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, people are nervous, poorly target."
In other words, all these attacks in full height had one goal - to raise the morale of the soldiers. That is why the officer losses in the First World War were relatively high - they were leading the soldiers into battle, and did not drive them, as they had recently instilled in us. Has something changed in Civil? Not. And then the officers raised the morale of private soldiers by personal example. And so did the high ranks. Let me quote the lines from the memoirs of the White Guard Major General Boris Steifon, also devoted to the figure of how legendary, so tragic, Lieutenant-General Vladimir May-Mayevsky - commanding the Volunteer Army: “In half an hour the general was already at our chains. Bolshevik bullets clicked on the train and on the iron casing of the car. May went out, stopped on the steps of the car and, not paying attention to the fire, calmly looked at the battlefield. Then he jumped heavily to the ground and went down the chain. Hello, n-tsy! - Hello, Your Excellency. - Well, well earned? - He turned to some soldier. - No, no. What is there to be timid! Well done. What are they to be afraid of, such-and-such? ”
New tactic
The First World War left three injuries and five contusions “flavored” with gas poisoning on the body of Slaschov. It seemed that one step separated the Russian Empire from victory, but its days were numbered. Under the Provisional Government, Yakov Aleksandrovich is on the rise — he takes command of the Life Guards Moscow regiment. But the command was nominal, for the country and the army were plunging into chaos. On the threshold stood a new war - the Civil War. On it the star Slaschova had to climb. Why? Because he, according to Claude, "enjoyed tremendous prestige, captivated the imagination of his subordinates and created the atmosphere of heroism that infects others and gives rise to new heroes."
This is the key to understanding the popularity of Slashchev: a career in the bloody haze of distemper was almost impossible to do without the ability to "captivate the imagination of subordinates." Slashchev was charismatic, although he did not have any magical effect on the crowd, not for nothing to make brilliant speeches in the style of Wrangel, and for the Reds - Trotsky. Charisma of Jacob Alexandrovich - in charm and inner strength.
In the winter cold of 1917, Slashchev, who did not accept the revolution, went to Novocherkassk, to the volunteer army that was being formed. The tasks she faced were ambitious: the liberation of Russia from the Bolsheviks or, to begin with, its southern regions. They decided to stake on anti-Soviet uprisings in the North Caucasian villages. There and went Slashchev. It was not the Cossacks who delegated the uprisings, which was already a mistake. Yes, and as subsequent events showed, in the beginning, the villagers did not want to beat the Bolsheviks, as Slashchev called for them. Such a call found a response mainly in the hearts of old people. The younger ones were either at the front or were returning from it, propagated by the socialists. Old men remained relatively few, however, they fought bravely and skillfully, that they recognized even the red ones, Budyonny for example.
Uprising Slashchevu failed to raise. But every cloud has a silver lining: in the Caucasus mountains, he met another legendary personality - Andrei Shkuro. Another significant meeting took place there - with former Khorunzhim Alexey Avtonomov. His star, however, not for long, also rose in the flames of distemper. Just yesterday, unknown to anyone, who had not crossed the thirty-year boundary, he ascended no less than the position of commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Kuban-Black Sea Republic. Head fit well spin. At Avtonomov she did not spin: he was aware of the inability to command the army. What did Avtonomov want to offer to Slashchev? Far from serving the Bolsheviks. Unlike his colleagues, Avtonomov did not delirious with the idea of a world revolution, but was, as Trotsky would say, “infected” with patriotism, being the “wrong” Bolshevik and inviting Slashchev and Shkuro to unite efforts to fight the German troops threatening to seize the North Caucasus. Of course, who saw enemies in the Germans, Yakov Aleksandrovich agreed, but set the condition - an agreement with the Volunteer Army. Avtonomov understood that now there was no ideological disagreement, and he also agreed.
Slashchev made a plan for the defense of the North Caucasus. And who knows, perhaps, together with Avtonomov, he would have been able to unite the local Red detachments with volunteers and Cossacks on the basis of a common cause - protecting the country from the Kaiser troops, rallying both sides against a common enemy in battles. If Avtonomov had enough will and perseverance. However, in the conditions of a sharp conflict with the local Sovdep, Avtonomov chose not to rely on Slaschov, but to seek justice in Moscow. This was his fatal mistake, not only costing him a year later, but also not allowing him to extinguish the flames of the Civil War that had broken out in the North Caucasus. Avtonomov, by the way, died not from a bullet, but from typhus, which overtook him in the Holy Cross - now Budyonnovsk, where the young commander-in-chief was driven by Wrangel's divisions. This is a consequence of the wrong choice.
But story does not tolerate the subjunctive mood. And from the assumptions go to the facts. Slashchev, Shkuro, and several other men form the Southern Kuban Army — at that time it was fashionable to call the troops an army, let us remember the Volunteer Army, which at first was barely larger than the regiment.
Of course, Slashchev was much more talented and more educated than Shkuro as a military leader. But it was Andrei Grigorievich who stood at the head of the detachment, since he was a natural Kuban. Yakov Aleksandrovich didn’t object - he was able to push personal ambitions into the background. Yes, and what ambitions, when a small detachment was on the verge of destruction. However, the detachment quickly grew due to the successful and rapid actions developed by Slaschov. His military talent in the fields of the Civil was revealed not only in brilliant victories, but also in understanding: to fight "correctly", as was customary in the First World War, is the surest way to defeat. We need to look for other forms of tactical decisions on the battlefield. And Yakov Alexandrovich quickly found them, which is not true of some other white generals.
After the detachment was merged with Denikin’s army, Slashchev commanded the Kuban Plastun brigade, at the head of which he survived glorious victories and two wounds. Then he is the commander of the 5 brigade of the 5 division, located in the Northern Black Sea region. It is noteworthy that in Crimea Slaschov many were mistaken for Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, in July 1918, killed by the Bolsheviks. In extremely difficult conditions in the spring of 1919, the brave and talented commander held the Crimea, for which in May of the same year he was deservedly promoted to major general. He was then thirty-three, however, the younger officers, the legendary commander of the Drozdovites Anton Turkul for example, also became generals in the Civic. In May 1919, whites in the south of Russia launched a general offensive. The units of Slashchev reached the Dnieper, where they were supposed to stop - the entire cavalry was being transferred to the main thing - the Moscow direction. But soon came the order to continue the offensive, and the troops (largely national teams) under the command of Slashchev took Nikolaev. Yakov Aleksandrovich personally led the attack on the city.
At the end of August, Slashchev defeated (perhaps the only one of the white generals) to the troops of Nestor Makhno, and a month later to the Petliura gangs. Moreover, the Petliurists were defeated in the course of the little-known (unlike the Oryol-Kromsky operation) Uman counter battle, during which Slashchev against his numerically superior enemy achieved success. However, the fate of the campaign was decided not on the Dnieper, but under Orel, where the talented General May-Mayevsky of the Volunteer Army, who was talented but who suffered from the binge-giving illness, lost control of the troops to a significant degree, and General Kutepov, who headed 1 Army Corps, in the days of the decisive counter battle at the end of November made a number of significant mistakes that Slashchev most likely would have avoided and then ...
Wrangel's fatal error
After the rapid advance of the Denikin armies, an equally rapid retreat followed. It was not an escape. Volunteers fought hard, surpassing the enemy in tactical skill, but behind him in numbers. And then the morale of the Cossack units began to fall. General Wrangel, who replaced May-Mayevsky as commander-in-chief, suggested that Denikin should withdraw volunteer divisions to the Crimea, but guided not so much by the military as by moral considerations and realizing that without the support of Markovtsy, Drozdovtsy, Kornilovtsy and Alekseevts the front of the Dontsy would collapse. The commander refused, ordering the retreat to the south-east - to Rostov. Wrangell fulfilled the order. Protection of the Crimea was entrusted to Slaschova. And he, by that time already a commander, brilliantly coped with the task with small forces. And originally the Crimea was going to defend General Subbotin, having organized a defense along the dam and on the Krymsky Val. The reaction of the future Crimean hero was quite cynical. The historian Oleg Smyslov leads it in his book dedicated to Slaschov: "Far away you will leave on your fortifications, probably, beyond the Black Sea." And he explained his position: "I absolutely do not recognize sitting in the trenches - only very well-trained troops are capable of this, we are not learned, we are weak and therefore we can act only with an offensive, and for this we need to create a favorable environment."
Slashchev retained the Crimea, and in April of the 1920, Wrangel headed the Armed Forces of the South of Russia, renaming them into the Russian army. He succeeded in almost impossible to inspire largely demoralized troops, primarily Cossack units, and in the spring to go on the offensive. It would seem that here the military talent of Slaschova must be used to the full. So, in fact, it was - brilliantly carried out by Slashchev Kirillovka’s operation. But in July, on the eve of the decisive battles, the savior of the Crimea filed a resignation report. Andrei Kruchinin explains: “Unfortunately, General Wrangel, who replaced Denikin as Commander-in-Chief of 22 in March of 1920, unlike his predecessor, was unable to overcome his personal antipathy for Slashchev. After a major offensive operation carried out in early April, when up to four divisions and five separate brigades (virtually all combat-capable units of the Volyura Party were subordinated to Slashchev, this antipathy becomes even more obvious. "
The human factor led to fatal consequences for the entire White movement and the fate of Russia. I will quote Kruchinin again: “Slashchev was the only one of the highest generals of the Russian army who, in the days of the fall of the White Crimea, proposed a plan for rectification of the situation with active offensive actions (large-scale landing operation in Khorlakh or even at the mouth of the Bug and at Odessa). Wrangel’s personal dislike predetermined an assessment of this plan as a purest adventure, although under conditions of extreme tension of forces and exhaustion of almost all reserves of the Soviet Southern Front, such actions could well turn the tide of the struggle. ”
"Shot" in immortality
The further fate of the brave general is known: homesickness, returning to another country, teaching on the “Shot” courses and death. However, the original version of the motive for returning Slashchev to Bolshevik Russia was advanced by Kruchinin, who believes that the legendary general restored relations with Wrangel (they met before leaving) and arrived in Moscow with a secret mission - preparing an anti-Soviet coup. The basis for such a hypothesis is a large number of yesterday's white officers in the Red Army. Is it really, with all certainty difficult to say.
I ask myself: if something unbelievable happens and survive Slashchev flywheel of repressions of the 30s .... In 1941, he would have been only fifty-five. He was still an old, gifted, unconventionally thinking general who knew perfectly well what modern war was and knew how to learn quickly. The latter is evidenced, for example, by Colonel Alexei Selyavkin, during the Great Patriotic War, Deputy Commander of the 13th Guards tank brigades, and in the 20th he attended Slashchev's lectures. In his memoirs, he writes about heated discussions about the role of armored forces in a future war. So, Selyavkin did not say a word that Slashchev underestimated the significance of the armored forces, and if it were, he would not fail to note, especially since he treated the general without any sympathy, seeing him as a class enemy. Yakov Aleksandrovich himself taught the students of the Shot courses how to conduct maneuvering operations, just as it was not in vain that the historian Aleksei Shcherbakov called Slashchev the master of the blitzkrieg.
Army General P.I.Batov recalled Slashchev: “He taught brilliantly, always full of people at lectures, sometimes tension in the audience, like in battle. Many listeners themselves have recently fought Wrangel men, including on the approaches to the Crimea, and the former White Guard general, not sparing slander, dealt with the shortcomings of his and our actions. Gritted his teeth with anger, but learned! ". Moreover, such outstanding commanders of the Great Patriotic War as F.I. Tolbukhin, R. Ya Malinovsky, A. M. Vasilevsky studied.
It is unlikely that the front and the army would be entrusted to Slashchev right away, but the corps could have been completely, and even upon returning to their homeland they were promised. Someone would argue: "Slaschova, despite his reports, was not allowed to command posts." This is so, although he was not directly refused. On the eve of the war, the situation could change. Let me remind you that KK Rokossovsky met the compatriot of the Great Patriotic War, he was also in 1939-m G. K. K. Zhukov.
But the story does not tolerate the subjunctive mood.
For many, the image of Slashchev is still strongly associated with the personality of General Khludov from the film “Running.” It should be noted that neither extensive memoir literature, nor scientific and journalistic works give an unambiguous assessment to Slashchev-man except, perhaps, the largest domestic expert on the White movement, Andrei Kruchinin, in positive colors depicting the image of the legendary general. But what is remarkable: both the red and the white highly valued his military talent.
The biography of Yakov Alexandrovich before the First World War is unremarkable: he was born in 1885 in a noble military family and, having matured, continued his father's work, also choosing the path of an officer, leaving behind him the Pavlovsk military school and the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff. Studied Slashchev unevenly - the first two courses he graduated in 1-th category, but did not get additional points for assignment to the General Staff. After graduation, he taught tactics in the Corps of Pages. Let us dwell on this fact in more detail. The fact is that he is often put on a par with such "demons of war" as Shkuro, Annenkov, von Ungern-Sternberg. Their star has risen in the flames of the Civil War, and they are difficult to attribute to the military intelligentsia - they are practitioners, but not theorists. But just the same broad outlook and intelligence Slashchev does not fit into this cohort.
With the first volleys of the First World War, Yakov Aleksandrovich was in the ranks of the life guards of the Finnish regiment. She volunteers leaving her young wife at home during the last month of pregnancy.
Among those who volunteered to go to the front was the poet Nikolai Gumilev, who wrote: “And in the roar of the human crowd, in the buzz of passing guns, in the silent call of the war trumpet I suddenly heard the song of my destiny ...” People like Slashchev always responded to such a voice and never waited subpoenas. Their lot on the battlefield is courage and contempt for death. Head Slaschova - the commander of the Finnish Regiment Major General Baron Paul Claude von Jurgensburg recalled: "Infinitely brave, but bravery oblivion or blind courage of the ordinary, but consciously brave chief, Yakov put together with this precious quality of all the talents of a large military leader: a love for military case , excellent military education, firm, decisive character, amazing ability to grasp the situation, etc. In his modest role as a company battalion commander Yakov Aleksandrovich put I guess forethought the course of military events. It was clear that he possesses the secret of military art, which allows him to supplement his usual methods of judgment about events with some sort of inner sense. ”
From Kruchinin’s work dedicated to Slashchev: “Exactly at one o'clock, appointed to attack, minute per minute, he gets up to his full height, removes his cap, earnestly baptizes and goes forward with a naked saber, leading companies to death or victory ...”
The above quote makes it more detailed to touch on the topic of courage, mentioned above, and sometimes even the bravado of Slashchev, under enemy fire. What is it, just the deliberate contempt for death in the style of Napoleon's marshal Murat, who had breakfast under the fire of Russian artillery? No, it is quite deliberate action, due to the care of the soldier. Reasons for her, recalling his participation in the Russian-Japanese war, was named by Lieutenant-General Anton Denikin: “I had an elevation on my right flank, from which I could clearly observe the movements of the Japanese. He is the main attack. The strongest fire, you can not raise your head. The commander of the nearest company, the captain of the Chembarsky regiment, Bogomolov, walks along the chain to its full height, checking the sights ... "Captain, why are you doing this, bend down!". "You can not, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, people are nervous, poorly target."In other words, all these attacks in full height had one goal - to raise the morale of the soldiers. That is why the officer losses in the First World War were relatively high - they were leading the soldiers into battle, and did not drive them, as they had recently instilled in us. Has something changed in Civil? Not. And then the officers raised the morale of private soldiers by personal example. And so did the high ranks. Let me quote the lines from the memoirs of the White Guard Major General Boris Steifon, also devoted to the figure of how legendary, so tragic, Lieutenant-General Vladimir May-Mayevsky - commanding the Volunteer Army: “In half an hour the general was already at our chains. Bolshevik bullets clicked on the train and on the iron casing of the car. May went out, stopped on the steps of the car and, not paying attention to the fire, calmly looked at the battlefield. Then he jumped heavily to the ground and went down the chain. Hello, n-tsy! - Hello, Your Excellency. - Well, well earned? - He turned to some soldier. - No, no. What is there to be timid! Well done. What are they to be afraid of, such-and-such? ”
New tactic
The First World War left three injuries and five contusions “flavored” with gas poisoning on the body of Slaschov. It seemed that one step separated the Russian Empire from victory, but its days were numbered. Under the Provisional Government, Yakov Aleksandrovich is on the rise — he takes command of the Life Guards Moscow regiment. But the command was nominal, for the country and the army were plunging into chaos. On the threshold stood a new war - the Civil War. On it the star Slaschova had to climb. Why? Because he, according to Claude, "enjoyed tremendous prestige, captivated the imagination of his subordinates and created the atmosphere of heroism that infects others and gives rise to new heroes."
This is the key to understanding the popularity of Slashchev: a career in the bloody haze of distemper was almost impossible to do without the ability to "captivate the imagination of subordinates." Slashchev was charismatic, although he did not have any magical effect on the crowd, not for nothing to make brilliant speeches in the style of Wrangel, and for the Reds - Trotsky. Charisma of Jacob Alexandrovich - in charm and inner strength.In the winter cold of 1917, Slashchev, who did not accept the revolution, went to Novocherkassk, to the volunteer army that was being formed. The tasks she faced were ambitious: the liberation of Russia from the Bolsheviks or, to begin with, its southern regions. They decided to stake on anti-Soviet uprisings in the North Caucasian villages. There and went Slashchev. It was not the Cossacks who delegated the uprisings, which was already a mistake. Yes, and as subsequent events showed, in the beginning, the villagers did not want to beat the Bolsheviks, as Slashchev called for them. Such a call found a response mainly in the hearts of old people. The younger ones were either at the front or were returning from it, propagated by the socialists. Old men remained relatively few, however, they fought bravely and skillfully, that they recognized even the red ones, Budyonny for example.
Uprising Slashchevu failed to raise. But every cloud has a silver lining: in the Caucasus mountains, he met another legendary personality - Andrei Shkuro. Another significant meeting took place there - with former Khorunzhim Alexey Avtonomov. His star, however, not for long, also rose in the flames of distemper. Just yesterday, unknown to anyone, who had not crossed the thirty-year boundary, he ascended no less than the position of commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the Kuban-Black Sea Republic. Head fit well spin. At Avtonomov she did not spin: he was aware of the inability to command the army. What did Avtonomov want to offer to Slashchev? Far from serving the Bolsheviks. Unlike his colleagues, Avtonomov did not delirious with the idea of a world revolution, but was, as Trotsky would say, “infected” with patriotism, being the “wrong” Bolshevik and inviting Slashchev and Shkuro to unite efforts to fight the German troops threatening to seize the North Caucasus. Of course, who saw enemies in the Germans, Yakov Aleksandrovich agreed, but set the condition - an agreement with the Volunteer Army. Avtonomov understood that now there was no ideological disagreement, and he also agreed.
Slashchev made a plan for the defense of the North Caucasus. And who knows, perhaps, together with Avtonomov, he would have been able to unite the local Red detachments with volunteers and Cossacks on the basis of a common cause - protecting the country from the Kaiser troops, rallying both sides against a common enemy in battles. If Avtonomov had enough will and perseverance. However, in the conditions of a sharp conflict with the local Sovdep, Avtonomov chose not to rely on Slaschov, but to seek justice in Moscow. This was his fatal mistake, not only costing him a year later, but also not allowing him to extinguish the flames of the Civil War that had broken out in the North Caucasus. Avtonomov, by the way, died not from a bullet, but from typhus, which overtook him in the Holy Cross - now Budyonnovsk, where the young commander-in-chief was driven by Wrangel's divisions. This is a consequence of the wrong choice.
But story does not tolerate the subjunctive mood. And from the assumptions go to the facts. Slashchev, Shkuro, and several other men form the Southern Kuban Army — at that time it was fashionable to call the troops an army, let us remember the Volunteer Army, which at first was barely larger than the regiment.
Of course, Slashchev was much more talented and more educated than Shkuro as a military leader. But it was Andrei Grigorievich who stood at the head of the detachment, since he was a natural Kuban. Yakov Aleksandrovich didn’t object - he was able to push personal ambitions into the background. Yes, and what ambitions, when a small detachment was on the verge of destruction. However, the detachment quickly grew due to the successful and rapid actions developed by Slaschov. His military talent in the fields of the Civil was revealed not only in brilliant victories, but also in understanding: to fight "correctly", as was customary in the First World War, is the surest way to defeat. We need to look for other forms of tactical decisions on the battlefield. And Yakov Alexandrovich quickly found them, which is not true of some other white generals.
After the detachment was merged with Denikin’s army, Slashchev commanded the Kuban Plastun brigade, at the head of which he survived glorious victories and two wounds. Then he is the commander of the 5 brigade of the 5 division, located in the Northern Black Sea region. It is noteworthy that in Crimea Slaschov many were mistaken for Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, in July 1918, killed by the Bolsheviks. In extremely difficult conditions in the spring of 1919, the brave and talented commander held the Crimea, for which in May of the same year he was deservedly promoted to major general. He was then thirty-three, however, the younger officers, the legendary commander of the Drozdovites Anton Turkul for example, also became generals in the Civic. In May 1919, whites in the south of Russia launched a general offensive. The units of Slashchev reached the Dnieper, where they were supposed to stop - the entire cavalry was being transferred to the main thing - the Moscow direction. But soon came the order to continue the offensive, and the troops (largely national teams) under the command of Slashchev took Nikolaev. Yakov Aleksandrovich personally led the attack on the city.
At the end of August, Slashchev defeated (perhaps the only one of the white generals) to the troops of Nestor Makhno, and a month later to the Petliura gangs. Moreover, the Petliurists were defeated in the course of the little-known (unlike the Oryol-Kromsky operation) Uman counter battle, during which Slashchev against his numerically superior enemy achieved success. However, the fate of the campaign was decided not on the Dnieper, but under Orel, where the talented General May-Mayevsky of the Volunteer Army, who was talented but who suffered from the binge-giving illness, lost control of the troops to a significant degree, and General Kutepov, who headed 1 Army Corps, in the days of the decisive counter battle at the end of November made a number of significant mistakes that Slashchev most likely would have avoided and then ...
Wrangel's fatal error
After the rapid advance of the Denikin armies, an equally rapid retreat followed. It was not an escape. Volunteers fought hard, surpassing the enemy in tactical skill, but behind him in numbers. And then the morale of the Cossack units began to fall. General Wrangel, who replaced May-Mayevsky as commander-in-chief, suggested that Denikin should withdraw volunteer divisions to the Crimea, but guided not so much by the military as by moral considerations and realizing that without the support of Markovtsy, Drozdovtsy, Kornilovtsy and Alekseevts the front of the Dontsy would collapse. The commander refused, ordering the retreat to the south-east - to Rostov. Wrangell fulfilled the order. Protection of the Crimea was entrusted to Slaschova. And he, by that time already a commander, brilliantly coped with the task with small forces. And originally the Crimea was going to defend General Subbotin, having organized a defense along the dam and on the Krymsky Val. The reaction of the future Crimean hero was quite cynical. The historian Oleg Smyslov leads it in his book dedicated to Slaschov: "Far away you will leave on your fortifications, probably, beyond the Black Sea." And he explained his position: "I absolutely do not recognize sitting in the trenches - only very well-trained troops are capable of this, we are not learned, we are weak and therefore we can act only with an offensive, and for this we need to create a favorable environment."
Slashchev retained the Crimea, and in April of the 1920, Wrangel headed the Armed Forces of the South of Russia, renaming them into the Russian army. He succeeded in almost impossible to inspire largely demoralized troops, primarily Cossack units, and in the spring to go on the offensive. It would seem that here the military talent of Slaschova must be used to the full. So, in fact, it was - brilliantly carried out by Slashchev Kirillovka’s operation. But in July, on the eve of the decisive battles, the savior of the Crimea filed a resignation report. Andrei Kruchinin explains: “Unfortunately, General Wrangel, who replaced Denikin as Commander-in-Chief of 22 in March of 1920, unlike his predecessor, was unable to overcome his personal antipathy for Slashchev. After a major offensive operation carried out in early April, when up to four divisions and five separate brigades (virtually all combat-capable units of the Volyura Party were subordinated to Slashchev, this antipathy becomes even more obvious. "
The human factor led to fatal consequences for the entire White movement and the fate of Russia. I will quote Kruchinin again: “Slashchev was the only one of the highest generals of the Russian army who, in the days of the fall of the White Crimea, proposed a plan for rectification of the situation with active offensive actions (large-scale landing operation in Khorlakh or even at the mouth of the Bug and at Odessa). Wrangel’s personal dislike predetermined an assessment of this plan as a purest adventure, although under conditions of extreme tension of forces and exhaustion of almost all reserves of the Soviet Southern Front, such actions could well turn the tide of the struggle. ”
"Shot" in immortality
The further fate of the brave general is known: homesickness, returning to another country, teaching on the “Shot” courses and death. However, the original version of the motive for returning Slashchev to Bolshevik Russia was advanced by Kruchinin, who believes that the legendary general restored relations with Wrangel (they met before leaving) and arrived in Moscow with a secret mission - preparing an anti-Soviet coup. The basis for such a hypothesis is a large number of yesterday's white officers in the Red Army. Is it really, with all certainty difficult to say.
I ask myself: if something unbelievable happens and survive Slashchev flywheel of repressions of the 30s .... In 1941, he would have been only fifty-five. He was still an old, gifted, unconventionally thinking general who knew perfectly well what modern war was and knew how to learn quickly. The latter is evidenced, for example, by Colonel Alexei Selyavkin, during the Great Patriotic War, Deputy Commander of the 13th Guards tank brigades, and in the 20th he attended Slashchev's lectures. In his memoirs, he writes about heated discussions about the role of armored forces in a future war. So, Selyavkin did not say a word that Slashchev underestimated the significance of the armored forces, and if it were, he would not fail to note, especially since he treated the general without any sympathy, seeing him as a class enemy. Yakov Aleksandrovich himself taught the students of the Shot courses how to conduct maneuvering operations, just as it was not in vain that the historian Aleksei Shcherbakov called Slashchev the master of the blitzkrieg.
Army General P.I.Batov recalled Slashchev: “He taught brilliantly, always full of people at lectures, sometimes tension in the audience, like in battle. Many listeners themselves have recently fought Wrangel men, including on the approaches to the Crimea, and the former White Guard general, not sparing slander, dealt with the shortcomings of his and our actions. Gritted his teeth with anger, but learned! ". Moreover, such outstanding commanders of the Great Patriotic War as F.I. Tolbukhin, R. Ya Malinovsky, A. M. Vasilevsky studied.
It is unlikely that the front and the army would be entrusted to Slashchev right away, but the corps could have been completely, and even upon returning to their homeland they were promised. Someone would argue: "Slaschova, despite his reports, was not allowed to command posts." This is so, although he was not directly refused. On the eve of the war, the situation could change. Let me remind you that KK Rokossovsky met the compatriot of the Great Patriotic War, he was also in 1939-m G. K. K. Zhukov.
But the story does not tolerate the subjunctive mood.
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