In war as in war. 37th art brigade in the fall of 1914 of the year

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37-I artillery brigade - one of the glorious artillery units of the Russian army, which had half a century by the beginning of the Great War history. We offer a look at several brigade battles in the autumn of 1914 and see the severity of the battles with varying success, of which Russian field artillery became a participant. The source was documentary materials, as well as the memoirs of V. Schwemberger.

In war as in war. 37th art brigade in the fall of 1914 of the year
Colonel Alexander Ivanovich Dobrov, commander of the 37 artillery brigade




Dead battery. 3-th battery of the 37-th artillery brigade in the battle of the village. Zaleshany, 2 September 1914


In the morning of September 2 of 1914, after a night crossing over the river. San across the pontoon bridge, built by the 18 m sapper battalion near the town of Radomysl, the 37 I infantry division fought with the Austrians, who transferred considerable forces to the offensive - on the front of the village of Motyche - the village of Zaleshany.

The 3-th battery of the 37-th artillery brigade, acting in cooperation with the 148-th Caspian infantry regiment, held a closed position near the village of Zaleshany. At about 9 hours on September 2, approximately 2 Austrian companies managed (completely unnoticeable to the Russian infantry) to pass through the junction between the 145 infantry Novocherkassky and the 148 infantry Caspian regiments - using no one observes the densely overgrown with bushes. Enemy chains that suddenly appeared quickly attacked the battery - approximately from a distance of 1000 steps. The battery opened fire on the cartridges. By the time of the attack, the infantry half-cover - the cover of the battery - did not appear on the spot, scattering over various "household needs" (digging potatoes) in the vicinity of the village of Zaleshany.


Scheme No. 1


The repeated attacks of the Austrians on the front of the battery, despite the sudden appearance of the enemy, were repulsed by gunfire by confused gunners. But the enemy persisted in the desire to seize the lonely, left to his own strength, battery. Unable to end the battery with a frontal strike, the Austrians used the following maneuver. About half of the available Austrian infantry lay at the edge of the bush, and from a distance of 600 - 800 steps opened frequent fire on the battery. Under cover of fire, before a company of enemy infantry, running across in small groups, it accumulated in a ditch bordering the highway, passing at 300 - 400 steps along the battery left flank. Advancing along the ditch, the enemy opened deadly flanking fire, killing most of the gunners in a short time.



The battery, even at this critical moment, continued to wage an unequal struggle with the enemy: six right-flanking guns maintained continuous runaway fire on the enemy who was threatening from the front. The left-flank platoon managed to change direction by almost 90 ° - and move the fire along the ditch where the Austrians settled. The barrage fire of this platoon could not, however, be real, since the Austrian shooters were well hidden by the ditch and thick trunks of oaks bordering the highway. After a short and fierce fire confrontation, during which all the officers on the battery (Lieutenant Khotsanov and Staff Captain Shelgunov) were killed, the enemy infantry again attacked the battery - this time from the flank and the front simultaneously. And in an unequal struggle, the shot battery fell - it was captured by the enemy.



Neither the neighboring batteries, nor their own infantry were aware of the drama taking place in the neighborhood - and 2 Austrian companies could host the Russian rear with impunity.

At the same time, there was a fierce battle at the front. The current situation could end in disaster, if not for the unexpected help of the 300 Zaslavsky regiment, whose vanguard units were approaching the Zaleshans by the described moment. The attention of the regiment's marching guards was attracted by the unusually fierce shooting at the village. Patrols sent from camping outposts reported the appearance east of the village. Zaleshany Austrian infantry. One of the Slavs' mouths hurriedly fired on shots. Seeing the Austrians managing the battery, the company overturned the enemy with a bayonet strike. Quite a few enemy soldiers who had recently taken possession of the batteries fell under bayonet attacks; the remainder was captured.

It is significant that the enemy infantry, which took possession of the battery, did not try to disable the captured weapons and develop success, advancing to the Russian rear. All gun panoramas and bolts were intact, but the soldiers' knapsacks were looted.

The battery was quickly staffed due to the rest of the 37th artillery brigade, and the very next day she took part in the battle.

The consequences of an unsuccessful order. Fight of the 1-th division 22 September 1914


During the September battles on the Vistula, units of the 18 Army Corps were actively defending the right bank of the river. The Vistula River at the front of the village of Sveciechow-Valowice. Since September 22 of 1914, the 1th division of the 37th artillery brigade has held positions in the village of Blizkovice, acting in connection with the 145th infantry Novocherkassky and 146th infantry Tsaritsyno regiments, fixed in the immediate vicinity of the river to the west of the site v. Blizkovice. In particular, the 2 battery was put forward to a closed position in the saddle behind the “mill height” approximately 1 verst from the eastern outskirts of the village of Blizkovice.


Scheme No. 2


The battery position, well covered from the front and flanks, nevertheless had significant drawbacks: a very narrow front (5 battery guns - 3 were knocked out in previous battles - had to be placed at close intervals) and an unfavorable, in the sense of unmasking influence, rear and side background - a dense and high pine forest, which almost came close to the battery from the rear and the right flank and significantly rose above the ridge of the position.

From the 16 hours of the 26 September, the Germans fired lively artillery fire at the trenches of the infantry, and several heavy batteries were found in the area east and southeast of the village of Tadeushev.

By 18 hours, the enemy artillery reached significant stress. By the same time, an accumulation of German infantry was found in the vicinity of the village of Slupya-Nadbrzhezno, on the outskirts of the river. Wisla.



The 2 battery ordered the division commander to disperse the German infantry, the activity of which was found in the river. Vistula The battalion commander, who was at the observation post (height east of the battery position), taking into account the nature of the position, drew the divisor’s attention to the fact that evening shooting could unmask the battery’s location, since the enemy could easily observe and detect flashes of gunfire from the higher left bank of the Vistula projecting against the dark background of the forest bordering the rear and flank of the battery. Having received a repeated order to begin shelling the village of Slupya-Nadbrzhezno, the battery commander opened fire ...

After the first bursts, the assumption of the battalion commander was confirmed: from the battery it was possible to observe how, after each shot, the dark background of the forest was illuminated by a bright fire of gun flashes. The harsh lighting effects could not, of course, escape the attention of German observers, and the results were immediately apparent. One of the enemy’s heavy batteries instantly transferred the fire to the position of the second battery.

The shooting was carried out by the enemy with bombs, in a cannon-like manner and lasted only 3 - 4 minutes. How favorable the conditions were for conducting it can be seen from the following summary: the 1 bomb fell in 170 steps to the right of the battery and 150 steps ahead of its front; The 2 bomb lay in the 100 steps to the left of the battery, exactly on the front line; The 3 bomb fell in 2 steps in front of the second gun from the right flank, incapacitating it (the combat axis was interrupted); 4-I bomb fell 10 steps behind the left-flank gun.


In position after firing


After four single shots, with which the shooting was completed, the enemy switched to firing, which was conducted by combined fire. The fire developed with startling methodism: the queue in 4 bombs - the queue in 4 shrapnel - a pause for two minutes - the queue in 4 bombs - the queue in 4 bombs - the pause for 2 minutes, etc., etc. The first bombs that hit the target interrupted telephone connection of the battery with the command post. Fire battery verse ....

People took refuge in the dugouts. Thanks to the good fortification preparation of the position, bomb fragments and shrapnel bullets did not cause losses. Direct hits were terrible, one of which was hit 2-e gun. And it just so happened that the moral shock “from the first meeting with the Germans” (until now the division was operating on the Austro-Hungarian front) was extremely strong. When, for a short time, the efforts of volunteers managed to restore telephone communications with the battery commander, the latter ordered, in order to avoid unnecessary losses, to remove people from the battery and shelter them in a forest ravine. Despite all the efforts of the officers, most of the gun rooms, well-shelled and usually well-kept, could not be forced to leave the dugouts. To all orders and persuasions, people who were densely packed in dugouts gave the same answer: “you will not leave death”, “everyone will have to die” ... etc. During this kind of “exhortation” a senior officer was wounded batteries and one of the platoon fireworks. Only a small part of the calculations managed to wrest from a daze.

The enemy shelling, which had a killer effect on the psyche with its methodism and impunity, lasted 35 minutes. The battery lost the wounded: 1 officers, 1 non-commissioned officers and 2 gunners. In addition, in the area where the aprons were located, 3 horses were crushed by trees felled by fragments. When examining the position after firing, 42 funnels from German bombs were recorded (the size of the funnels in hard rocky soil - more than 2 meters across and over 70 cm of depth). The mutual arrangement of the funnels was removed immediately after the shelling and can be seen in the scheme No. 3.


Scheme No. 3


The material damage incurred by the battery turned out to be relatively small, but the moral impression caused by the fast, accurate and confident shooting of the German gunners was very great: it, as an eyewitness notes, helped strengthen exaggerated opinions in the soldier’s heads about the power of the German army. The bad news is that this episode coincided with the first battle on the German front, becoming a baptism of fire on a new section of the front. And the blame for everything that happened was just one unsuccessful order of the overly stubborn division commander.

The ending should ...
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11 comments
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  1. +12
    17 October 2019 18: 23
    This is really
    In war as in war

    The combat history of the Russian units in the WWI continues, and this is wonderful
  2. +10
    17 October 2019 18: 36
    How much depends on the quality of decisions, on the particulars of the situation, and simply on military happiness.
    Once again you are convinced of this
    1. +10
      17 October 2019 19: 02
      Especially in maneuver warfare
  3. +2
    17 October 2019 18: 41
    In Mikhin's book "The Artillerymen, Stalin Gave the Order", there is a similar case, but on the contrary, in the first battle, mistakenly at night, the cannons were placed on the slope facing the Germans, this saved him, they fired on and plowed the opposite slope in the morning, being sure sho Russian art there, no one could have imagined that the Russian cannons would be right in front of them ...
  4. +9
    17 October 2019 19: 06
    Our gunners always stood for their guns to death, until the last defending their native materiel
  5. +2
    17 October 2019 19: 08
    but the moral impression caused by the fast, accurate and confident shooting of the German gunners was very great

    Everything is accurately said, to withstand the first battle, an important stage of moral and psychological stability, as a guarantee of further success.
    1. +9
      17 October 2019 20: 18
      With further success, the art brigade will just be in full order
      such an incident happened. As they say, an old woman is a bummer)
      1. +2
        17 October 2019 20: 19
        Quote: Dalton
        With further success, the art brigade will just be in full order
        such an incident happened. As they say, an old woman is a bummer)

        So that's great! hi
        1. +6
          18 October 2019 14: 13
          Schemes, photos. Many thanks to the author for the article.
          1. +5
            18 October 2019 21: 24
            Solidarity Reptiloid hi
  6. +3
    19 October 2019 14: 39
    It’s time for the author to publish colonels, but colonels of the PMV period
    Gaps are closing, and that's great!
  7. The comment was deleted.

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