The battle for Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk. How the "allies" surrendered Kolchak
Last photo of Kolchak
Smoot. 1919 year. 100 years ago, on December 18, 1919, the Krasnoyarsk operation of the Red Army began. December 20, Soviet troops liberated Tomsk, January 7, 1920 - Krasnoyarsk. The People's Revolutionary Army of the Political Center captured Irkutsk. January 5, 1920 Kolchak resigned as the "supreme ruler."
Disaster development
On December 11, 1919, under pressure from the Pepeliaev brothers (the commander of the 1st Army Anatoly Pepelyaev and the head of the Siberian government Viktor Pepeliaev), Kolchak was ousted by Commander-in-Chief General Sakharov. The new commander-in-chief was appointed General Kappel, who hoped to stop the enemy at the turn of the Yenisei, and get help from the Transbaikal troops of Ataman Semenov. Kolchak appointed Semenov as commander of the troops of the Far East and the Irkutsk district, ordered the Cossacks to restore order in Irkutsk, where the Socialist Revolutionaries were preparing an uprising. The admiral himself hurried to the new capital - Irkutsk.
The rear was seething, believing that the war was lost. The Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, other democrats got out of the underground, meetings were held everywhere, and "the transfer of power into the hands of the people" was announced. The slogan “Down with the war!” Gained popularity again. The rear units and garrisons quickly became victims of all kinds of propagandists. In Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk and Vladivostok, Kolchak’s power collapsed. The Czechs, taking care only of themselves and their looted good, again supported the socialists. Foreigners, “allies,” merged Kolchak, and hurriedly tried to escape east on the best trains. And the English general Knox, with a large staff of officers, and the head of the French mission, Jeanin, the Americans, and other foreigners, commissars under the Siberian government, railway and other commissions, all rushed to the Pacific Ocean.
The catastrophe was deepening. On December 14, 1919, units of the 27th Soviet division liberated Novonikolaevsk (Novosibirsk). By mid-December, Soviet troops entered the Ob River line. Partisans entered Semipalatinsk on December 3 to the south of the railway, on December 10 they liberated Barnaul, on the 13th - Biysk, on the 15th - Ust-Kamenogorsk. The resistance of the White Guards along the Trans-Siberian Railway was virtually paralyzed.
The retreating Kolchakites fell into the zone of action of the zone of action of the partisans. Already in the fall, detachments of Siberian partisans began to merge into entire “armies” - Kravchenko, Zverev, Shchetinkin, Mamontov, Rogov, Kalandarishvili. The "armies" of the rebels usually numbered several hundred or thousands of people, but they represented real strength, since during major operations all local peasants joined them. For the time being they were kept in the depths of the Siberian taiga. But the Kolchak regime collapsed. Kolchak units fell apart, were demoralized. The Czechs ceased to guard the Siberian Railway and only sought to escape with the looted goods. As a result, the partisans began to go out onto the railroad and attack the defenseless cities. It was one of the terrible episodes of the Russian Troubles - the peasant war, the war of peasants against any power and state, the war of the village and the city. In this situation, the arrival of the Red Army was a real salvation for the cities that became the prey of the rebels.
The Soviet command used the broad partisan movement of Siberia to their advantage. In December 1919, joint operations of regular units of the Red Army and partisans began in the main direction of the offensive. The partisan "army" Kravchenko-Shchetinkina, located in the Minusinsk-Achinsk-Krasnoyarsk region, numbered up to 15 thousand soldiers and consisted of 5 regiments. By order of the Soviet command, partisans from Altai began to be transferred to the area of the Siberian Railway. Also partisans of Western Siberia began to be credited to the reserve regiments of the Red Army. Persons over 35 years old were exempted from service.
The liberation of Tomsk
From Novonikolaevsk, units of the Red Army launched an offensive on Tomsk and Mariinsk. The 30th and 27th rifle divisions advanced at the forefront. In Tomsk there were quite a few different white troops, the main forces of the 1st Army Pepelyaev. However, it was not possible to organize the defense of the city. The troops had already completely decomposed, were losing control and did not even want to go east. Pepelyaev, seeing this situation, fled from Tomsk (although before that he accused General Sakharov of surrendering Omsk). Then he suffered typhus, and in the spring of 1920 the general fled to China. On the evening of December 20, 1919, the 2nd brigade of the 30th division entered the city, not meeting resistance anywhere. Kolchak units left in Tomsk piled up weapon. At this time, the Red Command even preferred not to mess with the many captive Kolchakites and white refugees, they were simply disarmed and sent home.
At the same time, other regiments of the 30th division and units of the 27th division reached the Taiga junction station. Here, the Red Army first caught up with the rear guard of the intervention troops - the 5th division of Polish legionnaires. The Poles covered the evacuation by rail. The Soviet 27th division, supported by partisans, dealt a powerful blow to the enemy on December 23. At the same time, workstations revolted. Soviet troops virtually completely destroyed 4 thousand. enemy regiment, which was supported by two armored trains and artillery. Both armored trains and more than 20 guns were captured. Two other Polish regiments of 8 thousand people were defeated at Anzhero-Sudzhensk and laid down their arms.
So the Czechs did not want to fight, the main obstacle to the rapid advance of the Reds to the east was only the distance, the tiredness of the troops from constant movement, winter, snow drifts on roads, bridges blown up by Kolchak’s, other railway structures, poor condition of roads clogged by damaged locomotives, burned wagons and abandoned trains. In addition, crowds of refugees and released prisoners, who independently sought salvation, were killed by the masses from cold, hunger and typhoid. Sometimes the Kappel people wandered through the snow, periodically reminding themselves of the red avant-gardes.
Battle of Krasnoyarsk
South of the railway, where parts of the 35th division were advancing, Kuznetsk was occupied on December 26. On December 28, 1919, Soviet troops, with the support of partisans, liberated Mariinsk, and on January 2, 1920, Achinsk. Here there was a connection of parts of the Red Army with the partisans Kravchenko and Schetinkin.
The Red Army was to take the last major enemy stronghold in Siberia - Krasnoyarsk. Here was located the 1st Siberian Corps under the command of General Zinevich. The city had large stockpiles of weapons, ammunition and equipment. This was the last large base of the Kolchak army. The remnants of broken white parts retreated here. The White Command hoped to detain the Reds in the Krasnoyarsk region, retain Eastern Siberia, and restore the army for a new campaign in the spring of 1920. But nothing came of it.
The garrison commander General Zinevich, having waited when five letter trains of Kolchak traveled east, beyond Krasnoyarsk, broke away from the army, raised a rebellion. On December 23, he transferred civilian power to the "Committee for Public Security", which shared the political platform of the Irkutsk Political Center (SRs). Zinevich began telegraphic armistice negotiations with the Reds and demanded the same from the retreating white troops under the command of Kappel. Thus, Kolchak was cut off from his troops, without protection among a hostile environment. It is possible that the Socialist-Revolutionaries, Czechs, and Western "allies" specifically carried out this operation to put Kolchak in a hopeless situation.
And the army under the command of Kappel was put on the brink of complete destruction, finding himself between two fires, losing the last base and supply line. Kolchakites tried to tighten negotiations with Zinevich, at which time they were in a hurry to Krasnoyarsk. Parts moved in accelerated marches through dense forests, deep snows, making unprecedented stories hike, losing daily horseback, part of the convoy and artillery. It was especially difficult for the troops of the 3rd Army, which was moving south of the railway, where there were almost no roads, in the high terrain covered with taiga. From defense and rear-guard battles in order to delay the Red Army had to be completely abandoned. It was necessary to quickly go to Krasnoyarsk, while it is still possible to break through. The enemy forces in Krasnoyarsk were constantly intensifying. Down the Yenisei from Minusinsk was the partisan army of Shchetinkin.
While Zinevich was negotiating with the Reds about surrender, planning to maintain the power of the Zemstvo government (Social Revolutionaries) in the city, the local organization of the Bolsheviks prepared their uprising. January 4, 1920 in Krasnoyarsk the uprising of the Bolsheviks began. He was supported by the Yenisei partisans. The workers' detachments, soldiers and partisans who came over to their side, prepared the city for defense. On January 5, the advanced units of the Kappel army tried to recapture the city, but their weak attacks were repelled. After this, Kappel and Wojciechowski decided to break through bypassing Krasnoyarsk to the east, they decided not to take the city, since the enemy received strong reinforcements. There was a threat that if the assault fails or drags out, the Red Army will come up and Kolchak’s will be between a rock and a hard place. It was decided to bypass the city from the north.
January 6 Kolchak went on a breakthrough. But at this time, Soviet troops overtook the remnants of the 2nd and 3rd white armies. Guards of partisans from the “army” of Schetinkin came to the aid of the Soviet troops. Kolchakites were surrounded. An army of sled carts swept through. Either they tried to return to the west, then again they turned east, or they went south and north. There was no right battle. Fights took place here and there, both sides both defended and attacked. Some White Guard units surrendered, others fought fiercely. A haphazard, chaotic battle in the space of dozens of miles lasted all day. By night, White’s resistance was broken. On the night of January 6-7, units of the 30th Infantry Division entered Krasnoyarsk. In fact, the Kolchak army ceased to exist. In the area of Krasnoyarsk, about 60 thousand Kolchakites were wounded, wounded or captured. According to other sources, about 20 thousand people. It is possible that a large figure includes all refugees, rear officers, officials, civilians, etc. The White Guards lost all the carts and artillery.
With Kappel, up to 12 thousand people made their way to the east bank of the Yenisei. The remaining white troops continued their campaign in Transbaikalia. Part of the troops, with Kappel and Wojciechowski, went north along the Yenisei, then moved along the Kan River to Kansk to get off onto the railway again. It was an extremely difficult route, with almost no villages, that is, housing supplies. At the mouth of the Kan River, the detachment of General Perkhurov separated from the general column (after his captivity, General Sukin led the people), who moved further along the Yenisei to its confluence with the Angara, then along the Angara to the mouth of the Ilim River, then along Ilim to the village of Ilimsk and Ust-Kut (in March 1920, the remnants of the detachment reached Chita). Another group, which was soon led by General Sakharov, continued to move along the Siberian Highway and the railway, catching up with previously departed units and detachments.
The Great Siberian Ice Campaign (from Krasnoyarsk). Map source: http://irkipedia.ru/
Rise of the Political Center
While the Red Army completed the rout of the White Guards, major events took place in the Baikal region that accelerated the fall of the Kolchak regime. In the second half of December 1919, uprisings of workers and soldiers began in the cities of Eastern Siberia. December 17, Kirensk revolted. On December 21, soldiers and workers of Cheremkhov revolted. The Czechs did not intervene. Cheremkhovsky railway battalion joined the rebels. At the same time, the power of the Socialist Revolutionary Political Center was established in Nizhneudinsk and Balagansk.
The political center, headed by Fedorovich, Akhmatov and Kosminsky, tried to use the fall of the Kolchak government to establish its power in Siberia and the Far East, and create a “democratic government”. The Czechs and the Entente supported this idea, hoping with the help of the Socialist Revolutionaries to create a new puppet regime and maintain control over Siberia and the Far East. Many of the rear garrison soldiers who followed the slogan of turning the war against the Reds, officers and even commanders of formations (like General Zinevich in Krasnoyarsk) followed the Socialist Revolutionaries. Especially strong were the Social Revolutionaries in Irkutsk. A significant part of the officers of the Irkutsk garrison supported the Social Revolutionaries. Using this, the Social Revolutionaries prepared an uprising. The rebels were led by Captain Nikolai Kalashnikov.
On the eve of the speech, counterintelligence of the headquarters of the Irkutsk military district was able to arrest the revolutionary Socialist Revolutionary Committee, only a few people disappeared. But the uprising could not be prevented. On December 24, by order of the Political Center, Kalashnikov and Merkhalev led a speech in Glazkov of the 53rd Siberian Rifle Regiment. At the same time, the Irkutsk brigade revolted. With the transfer to the rebels of the local brigade, in their hands were the important military depots of Batareynaya station, which she guarded. Workers' squads were created in Glazkov and in the Znamensky suburb of Irkutsk. The rebels formed the People's Revolutionary Army, led by Kalashnikov.
However, the rebels could not immediately capture the entire city. The planned transfer of a number of units in the city center to the side of the rebels was paralyzed due to the arrests of the leaders of the Political Center. The units remaining loyal to Kolchak (the most sturdy were the junkers and cadets) were separated from the rebels by the still not frozen Angara. The pontoon bridge was torn down by an ice drift, and the steamers were controlled by the interventionists. Major General Sychev, the head of the Irkutsk garrison, planned to attack the rebels, but General Zhanen, the commander of the interventionists, forbade him. He declared the strip where the rebels were neutral. Czech troops did not intervene.
Ataman Semenov, whom Kolchak appointed commander of the Trans-Baikal, Amur and Irkutsk military districts, and promoted to lieutenant general, only now, after the uprising in Irkutsk, he sensed a threat to himself. He sent to Irkutsk a small detachment led by Major General Skipetrov (about 1 thousand people). Semenovtsy arrived by rail to Irkutsk on December 30. They were supported by three armored trains. However, white armored trains didn’t get to the Irkutsk station, as the railroad workers launched a steam locomotive towards the main armored train, damaging it and the way. Then White launched an attack on Glazkov. But their attack was stopped by the Czechs. They demanded the withdrawal of troops to the Baikal station, threatening to use armed force otherwise. The Czech Orlik armored train was more powerful in armament than the three armored trains of the Semenovites combined. Having no connection with the city, due to the small number and low combat effectiveness of his detachment, preparedness of the enemy’s defense, large forces of workers and peasants' squads and partisans, Skipetrov retreated.
Then, Czech troops, with the support of the Americans, destroyed the Semyonov armored train, defeated and captured the Semenovites at Baikal station and other points. Thus, the interventionists unblocked the section of the Siberian railway, which was controlled by the chieftain.
Meanwhile, the Kolchak units remaining to Irkutsk under pressure from the interventionists were completely disorganized. General Sychev with a group of officers fled for Lake Baikal. On January 4, 1920, in the center of Irkutsk, a military-revolutionary organization of the Political Center revolted, the remaining white units and local Irkutsk Cossacks moved to its side. The Irkutsk junkers held on for some time, then laid down their arms. The Kolchakov government in Irkutsk was arrested. By January 5, all of Irkutsk was under the control of the Political Center. Formed by the Political Center, the Provisional Council of the Siberian People’s Administration declared itself a power in the territory "cleared of the power of reaction" from Irkutsk to Krasnoyarsk. The Provisional Council was declared the supreme body of state and legislative power in Siberia, and the Political Center - the executive body of the Provisional Council.
"Nizhdeuda seat" Kolchak
Preparation for the transfer of power to the Socialist Revolutionaries and its seizure was made with the consent of the interventionists, whose headquarters were at that time in Irkutsk. The Entente, making sure that the Kolchak regime was fully used, again tried to bet on the Social Revolutionaries in order to help them maintain their presence in eastern Russia. True, the Japanese at first had a different position than the Americans, British and French. The Japanese, in order to preserve their protege Ataman Semenov, to whom the "supreme ruler" transferred great powers, tried to help the admiral. But under pressure from Janen and Graves (American general, US representative in the Far East and Siberia), the Japanese soon lost.
To strengthen the power of the Political Center, to give the Socialist-Revolutionaries to take power in Irkutsk and other Siberian cities, the interventionists blocked Kolchak. December 27, 1919 Kolchak reached Nizhneudinsk. Zhanen from Irkutsk ordered not to let the Kolchak train and the gold train “in the form of their safety” go further. The Czechs blocked the convoy of the “supreme ruler, unhooked and stole the locomotives. The protests did not lead to anything. Kolchak ordered Kappel to go to the rescue. The white commander could not fulfill this order, his units were too far from Nizhneudinsk, breaking through the dense forests, deep snow and fighting off the reds.
For Kolchak, the "Nizhneudinsky sitting" began. The station was declared "neutral." The Czechs acted as guarantors of the admiral's security. Therefore, the rebels did not meddle here. Companions invited Kolchak to run to the border of Mongolia. An old highway of 250 miles long led from Nizhneudinsk there. Part of the gold could be loaded onto carts. There was a convoy for the guard - more than 500 fighters. However, Kolchak missed this chance. Gathering a soldier, he said that he was not going to Irkutsk, but was temporarily staying in Nizhneudinsk. The admiral offered to stay with him to all those who are ready to share his fate and believe in him, giving the rest freedom of action. By morning, almost everyone had left. The "supreme ruler" remained completely defenseless. The Czechs immediately took the gold train under their "protection". Communication was also in their hands, and Kolchak was completely divorced from the events.
While Kolchak was sitting in Nizhneudinsk, negotiations were held in Irkutsk with his ministers, the "emergency troika" Minister of War, General Khanzhin, Minister of Railways Larionov and Acting Head of Government, Interior Minister Cherven-Vodali, with representatives of the Political Center. Negotiations were conducted on the train of General Janin, on his initiative and under his chairmanship. That is, the West "led" Kolchak to the very last moment, first used, and then surrendered. At first, the Kolchak “troika” resisted the conspiracy, but under pressure from the “allies” it was forced to recognize the Political Center and accept the conditions put forward by it.
For Kolchak, the interventionists demanded the abdication of the supreme power (he no longer had real power, but a legal act was required), guaranteeing in this case a safe trip abroad. It was a hoax. The issue of extradition has already been resolved. With the help of Kolchak, Janin decided to solve the problem of the safe evacuation of foreign missions and troops to the east, plus supplying their trains with coal. The Entente also needed his extradition to establish "friendship" with the new Siberian "democratic" government. The political center needed Kolchak to legally strengthen its power and to bargain with the Bolsheviks.
On January 3, 1920, in Nizhneudinsk, Kolchak received a telegram from the Council of Ministers with the signatures of Cherven-Vodali, Khanzhin and Larionov demanding the renunciation of power and its transfer to Denikin, as the new Supreme Ruler. On January 5, 1920, the troops of the Political Center established full control over Irkutsk. General Hanzhin was arrested. Kolchak's position was hopeless. Partisans and Reds advanced in the West, rebels in Nizhneudinsk, and Political Center in Irkutsk. On January 5, the admiral signed the abdication of power, passing it to Denikin, who was appointed deputy supreme commander in summer. In the Russian East, all military and civil power was transferred to Semenov.
After that, a wagon with Kolchak and a gold train, guarded by the Czechs, were allowed to Irkutsk. On January 10, the train left Nizhneudinsk. At the station Cheremkhovo local revkom and workers demanded to transfer the admiral and gold to them. The Czechs managed to agree, the representatives of the labor squad were included in the guard. On January 15, the train arrived in Irkutsk. They put up additional security. "Allies" have already fled from Irkutsk. In the evening, the Czechs announced to the admiral that they were giving it to the local authorities. Kolchak and his Prime Minister Pepelyaev were imprisoned.
The Japanese did not know about this, they believed that Kolchak would be taken east. Upon learning of the admiral's betrayal, they protested and demanded the release of Kolchak. The fact is that the Japanese are a warrior nation, such dark affairs are not in their style. And the nations of Western democracies - England, France and the United States, are traders, they are always happy about a bargain, agreement. Therefore, the Japanese voice remained lonely, no one supported them. The Japanese command had only a few companies in Irkutsk, and therefore could not confirm its opinion by force. As a result, the Japanese left the city.
Decree of the Supreme Ruler Admiral Kolchak of January 4, 1920
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