Kappelevtsy take Kazan
General situation on the Eastern Front
The uprising of the Czechoslovak Corps in May 1918 in the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia and the Far East created a favorable situation for the elimination of Soviet power, the formation of anti-Soviet governments and the beginning of large-scale armed actions of the White Guard troops against the Reds in the east of the country. With the support of Czech troops in May - June, the Soviet government was overthrown in Novonikolaevsk, Penza, Syzran, Tomsk, Kurgan, Omsk, Samara and Krasnoyarsk.
8 June 1918 year in the Samara-liberated Social Revolutionaries by the Social Revolutionaries was established Committee of the Constituent Assembly (KOMUCH, Komuch). He declared himself a temporary authority, which, according to the plan of its creators, had spread to the whole territory of Russia, transfer the administration of the country to the legally elected Constituent Assembly. Komuch created his own armed forces - the People's Army. At the same time, on June 23, the Provisional Siberian Government was formed in Omsk.
He led the troops Komucha lieutenant colonel V. O. Kappel. Under his command, a white squadron in the middle of June 1918 took Syzran, Stavropol Volzhsky. 21 July Kappel took Simbirsk, defeating the superior forces of the city’s defensive Soviet commander GD Guy, for which he was promoted to colonel and appointed commander of the People’s Army. In July, the White and Czechoslovak detachments also occupied Ufa (July 1918), while the Czechs under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Wojciechowski, July 5, also took Yekaterinburg. To the south of Samara, a detachment of Lieutenant Colonel F. Makhin took Khvalynsk and approached Volsk. The Ural and Orenburg Cossack troops joined the counter-revolutionary forces of the Volga region.
As a result, by the beginning of August 1918, the “territory of the Constituent Assembly” extended from west to east on the 750 versts (from Syzran to Zlatoust), from north to south - on the 500 versts (from Simbirsk to Volsk). In addition to Samara, Syzran, Simbirsk and Stavropol-Volzhsky, he also controlled Sengiley, Bugulma, Buguruslan, Belebey, Buzuluk, Birsk, Ufa.
Soviet Command Actions
The critical situation in the east of Russia forced the Soviet government to turn all its attention to the Eastern Front. The Eastern Front, created by 13 on June 1918, was partially demoralized and temporarily lost control during the insurrection of Commander-in-Chief M. Muravyov. For a while the troops remained without definite leadership, while the enemy was actively developing the offensive. On July 11, I.I. Vatsetis was appointed the new front commander. During World War II, he was promoted to colonel, commander of the 5-th Zemgale rifle regiment as part of the 12-th army. After the October Revolution, he went over to the side of the Bolsheviks, from April 1918 of the year - the commander of the Latvian Rifle Division. One of the leaders of the suppression of the Left Socialist-Revolutionary insurrection in Moscow in July 1918 by Latvian riflemen.
The Soviet command did its best to restore order on the Eastern Front. Reinforcement went wide on the Eastern Front from central Russia. So, many centers of formation, such as Kozlov, Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod, gave their first ready formations to the Eastern Front. True, the fighting qualities of these troops, their size and organization, left much to be desired. These were still mostly volunteer units, and they acted in the spirit of partisan units. Therefore, the Red Army could not immediately give a decisive rebuff to the enemy.
28 July 1918, Vatsetis reported to military commissar Trotsky: "I decided to strike a decisive blow to the enemy in the near future and throw him from the Volga to the east." 1-I army received the task of restraining the enemy and prevent his breakthrough to the west of the line Syzran - Simbirsk. In the future, the army at the right time had to go on the offensive and throw the enemy into the Volga. 4-I army had to take Khvalynsk, and then attack on the Samara direction. 3-I army received the task to take Yekaterinburg and then act on the front Chelyabinsk - Zlatoust. The 2 Army set the task of taking Ufa and seizing the Chishmy hub station, advancing on Bugulma in one group. 5-I army, which was created in the area of Kazan, was to go on a decisive offensive on the Simbirsk front - Bryandino station.
Thus, the essence of the Vatsetis plan was to seize the Czechoslovak group and the People's Army, operating on the Simbirsk-Syzran front, with a double blow to the left bank of the Volga: from the north, from Chistopol to Simbirsk, and from the south, from Urbach to Samara. Three armies (1-i, 4-i and 5-i) were to solve this task, the other two armies (2-i and 3-i) were to deliver auxiliary attacks on Ufa and Yekaterinburg. However, to fulfill this plan, it was necessary to concentrate large forces, especially on the right flank of the Eastern Front, which could be done later.
Red troops tried to attack, but because of the insignificance of forces and poor organization, low discipline of a number of units, without success. Thus, the 2 Army for the operations in the area of Bugulma was able to identify a small detachment - about 1 thousand bayonets, 140 sabers, 17 machine guns, 6 guns. This detachment slowly moved to Bugulma, occupied by a company of Czechoslovak legionaries and the emerging white battalion, and on August 5 attacked her. The enemy not only fought off the attack, but also launched an offensive, forcing the Reds to flee. The remaining troops of the 2 Army also did not fulfill their tasks. Some parts were cast on the road and came back; others did not want to speak at all. The troops of the 3 Army went out to Ekaterinburg and started a battle for the outskirts of the city. However, the instability of one of its divisions forced the Reds to roll back. 5-I army had so insignificant strength that could not even successfully keep the defense.
Eastern Front Commander I. Vatsetis with adjutant in 1918. Front headquarters
White Command Strategy
The White Command chose Yekaterinburg - Perm - Vyatka for the main operational direction, seeking to establish a connection with the Entente troops, advancing from the White Sea. Apparently, this plan came from the Entente - the British representative in Siberia, General Knox. This idea was supported by the command of the Czechoslovak Corps. General Gaida wanted to avoid a long journey to Vladivostok, and then around the world, and to conduct the Czechoslovak echelons in a shorter way through Perm, Vyatka, Vologda and Arkhangelsk. As a result, this plan was carried out throughout the summer and winter campaign 1918 - 1919. Entente powers in the future, already in the summer of 1919, pressed on the command of the white Siberian army, so that it continued to develop an offensive in the Perm direction.
This plan was in the interests of the Entente and the Czechs, who did not seek to be on the front lines of the war in Russia. The masters of the West sought to kindle the flames of a fratricidal war in Russia, and to get all the benefits from the collapse and destruction of Russian civilization. But in general, in the interests of whites, the plan was unsuccessful. The main operational direction could not lead to victory in the war, since it did not lead to vital centers for Soviet Russia or the counter-revolution (Don). The terrain was relatively uncrowded, with a very harsh climate, especially in winter. The territory could not feed numerous troops. From a military and strategic point of view, the implementation of this plan led to the concentration of forces and resources on the right flank of the White Eastern Front, in the Perm direction. The Reds, on the contrary, concentrated their forces on the left flank of the Whites and the Czechs.
In order to strengthen the position on the main operational direction, the whites decided to take Kazan after occupying Simbirsk. Here was the last permanent railway crossing over the Volga (Red Bridge near Sviyazhsk). A wide breakthrough of the Eastern Front of the Reds was also carried out, the 1-I and 2-I Red armies were divided. Hence the opportunity for a shorter operational direction to threaten Moscow.
In this case, the choice of the direction of the new strike caused a dispute. The headquarters of the white forces in Samara in the person of the Commander of the Volga Region Front of the People’s Army Komucha S. Chechek, Colonel N. A. Galkin and Colonel P. P. Petrov proposed to direct the main attack on Saratov. A strike on Saratov could have led to the collapse of the entire southern flank of the Soviet defense, the fall of Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan, the unification with the Don Cossacks of Krasnov, the creation of a united front with them against the Red Army. What created the prerequisites for a further attack on Moscow. Col. V. O. Kappel, A. P. Stepanov, V. I. Lebedev, B. K. Fortunatov insisted on hitting Kazan. They argued that a rebellion had been prepared in Kazan, so the city, where the enormous reserves needed for the troops were concentrated, would be taken without difficulty. Chechek banned Kappel and Stepanov from advancing on Kazan, allowing only a demonstration to the mouth of the Kama, after which they should return to Samara with their units for further advance on Saratov. However, they ignored the ban and decided to take Kazan on their own initiative. The White-Czech detachment numbered about 3 thousand fighters.
One of the most famous and talented white commanders Vladimir Oskarovich Kappel
The fall of Kazan
The troops of the 5 Red Army in the battles from 1 to 5 of August, which had just begun to concentrate near Kazan, in the battles against the enemy could have restrained the onslaught. Soviet troops in Kazan numbered about 10 thousand people, but most of them had low combat capability. The main burden of the fighting lay on the most combat-ready units of the 4 and 5 of the Latvian rifle regiments. But their efforts only delayed, and did not avert, the fall of Kazan.
By the evening of August 5, the whites reached Kazan. River flotillapassing Kazan, she went up the Volga to the Romanovsky bridge and started a firefight with red coastal batteries there, landed a Kappel detachment on the right bank of the Volga near Verkhny Uslon village. Thus, the Volga was intercepted above Kazan. The Czechs at this time landed near the Kazan marinas (five kilometers below Kazan) and, turning around in battle formation, with the support of artillery launched an attack on the city. The Reds, mostly fighters of the 5th Latvian Regiment, fiercely fought back and even pressed the whites.
In the morning of August 6, Lieutenant Colonel Kappel, having landed with a part of his detachment on the left bank of the Volga above Kazan in the area of the village of Bolshaya Otar, entered the city from the rear, causing panic in the ranks of the defended Reds. The Serbian international battalion, which defended the Kazan Kremlin, moved to the side of the People’s Army. Meanwhile, the Czechs, taking advantage of the fact that the most combat-ready units of the Reds were sent to the northern outskirts of the city against Kappel, landed in the Admiralty settlement and, with the support of artillery and machine-gun fire, overturned weak Red Guard units. The landing of this landing also served as a signal for an officer uprising inside the city. By the evening of August 6, the city was surrounded by white from the 3's sides. In the evening of August 6, the remnants of the red garrison divided into two parts. One part with battles began to make its way to Sviyazhsk, the other to the north - to Arsk. However, most of the break from the environment could not and was captured. Vatsetis himself, with his staff, barely escaped captivity. The 5 Latvian Regiment surrendered, which was the only case of the surrender of the Latvian riflemen for the entire Civil War. All of them, as "foreign mercenaries", were shot white. In addition, the moral instability on the ships of the Volga Military Flotilla contributed greatly to the success of whites near Kazan. Not having accepted the battle with the enemy’s armed steamships, the vessels of the red flotilla ran up the Volga.
On the night of August 7, the white units occupied the city completely. White's losses were minimal. Kappel noted that his losses were 25 people, but the trophies taken in the city "did not give in to counting". In addition to the huge amount weapons and military property (the rear warehouses of the old army were located here), the stocks of medicines were in the hands of the whites half of Russia's gold reserves (the other half were kept in Nizhny Novgorod). White captured 650 million gold rubles in coins, 100 million rubles by credit signs, gold bars, platinum, and other valuables). Subsequently, this gold went to the Ufa directory and the Supreme Ruler of Russia Alexander Kolchak. From the reserves of the “Nizhny Novgorod” gold, the Bolsheviks made reparation payments to Germany under the terms of the Brest Peace. Subsequently, according to the conditions of the Versailles peace, this gold was transferred by Germany to the countries of the Entente as part of the German reparations.
Also, the full headquarters of the General Staff Academy in Kazan (in July 1918 was renamed the Red Army Military Academy) moved to the side of the whites. The majority of teachers and students refused to speak out against the whites and Czechoslovaks attacking Kazan and went over to their side. In this regard, October 7 1918, the Revolutionary Military Council issued an order on the formation of the Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army. Thus, during the Civil War from 1918 to 1922, two academies of the General Staff, “white” and “red”, simultaneously operated in Russia at the same time. In the ranks of the White movement, the Academy continued its work, first in Yekaterinburg, then in Tomsk and Omsk. At the end of 1919, the city was evacuated to Vladivostok. The latest edition of its listeners took place at the end of 1921, in Vladivostok, on Russky Island. In the spring of 1923, part of the teachers, the library, the printing house and the property of the academy were returned to Moscow as part of the Soviet Academy.
Immediately after the capture of Kazan, Kappel at a meeting of officers of the General Staff in Kazan proposed to develop an offensive against Moscow through Nizhny Novgorod, since long-term positional defense in a situation that had developed immediately after the capture of Kazan was not possible. Kappel suggested that Nizhny Novgorod be taken at once, and with it the second part of Russia's gold reserves, which certainly worsened Moscow’s position at negotiations with Germany. But the Social Revolutionaries, as well as the Czechs, referring to the lack of reserves for the defense of Samara, Simbirsk and Kazan, spoke out strongly against the plans of the colonel. Instead of an offensive, the SR government preferred a limited defense, which was Komucha’s major strategic mistake. White soon lost the strategic initiative. In addition, despite all the appeals, the influx of volunteers into the People's Army was weak (the social base of the whites was small). Samara did not give additional reserves, saying that Kazan should keep on its own. The decision of the leadership of the Social Revolutionary Party, “First secure the conquered, and then move on,” turned into a defeat.
As a result, the capture of Kazan was the last major victory of the counter-revolutionary forces at the beginning of the campaign on the Eastern Front. Already in September, the troops of the Soviet Eastern Front would go on the counteroffensive and beat off Kazan and Simbirsk, and in October Samara, inflicting a heavy defeat on the People’s Army Komucha.
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