October 25 1922 in Soviet Russia ended the civil war
October 25 1922 in Soviet Russia ended a bloody civil war. From 4 to 25 in October 1922, the People’s Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic (the ground forces of the DRV, the 1920 formed in March based on units of the East Siberian Soviet Army) conducted an offensive Primorye operation. It ended in complete success, the white troops were defeated and fled, and the Japanese were evacuated from Vladivostok. This was the last significant operation of the Civil War. The People's Revolutionary Army of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan under the command of Jerome Utovorevich Petrovich reflected in September the strike of the “Zemstvo rati” (so called the armed forces of the Amur region, formed of the White Guard troops in Primorye) under the command of Lieutenant General Konstantinovich Diterikhs and transferred to control in October. On October 8-9, the Spassky fortified area was taken by assault, where the most capable Volga group of the Zemsky Rait was routed under the command of General Viktor Mikhailovich Molchanov. October 13-14, in cooperation with the partisans on the approaches to Nikolsk-Ussuriisky, broke the main forces of the White Guards. By October 16, the Zemskaya Rabat was completely crushed, its remnants retreated to the Korean border or began to be evacuated through Vladivostok. October 19 The Red Army reached Vladivostok, where up to 20 thousands of servicemen of the Japanese army were based. October 24 Japanese command was forced to conclude an agreement with the government of the DRV on the withdrawal of its troops from the southern Primorye.
The last ships with the remnants of the White Guard units and the Japanese left the city of October 25. At four o'clock in the afternoon 25 October 1922, units of the People’s Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic entered Vladivostok. In Russia, the Civil War ended. In three weeks, the Far East will become an integral part of the Soviet Republic. 4 - 15 November 1922 of the year at the session of the People's Assembly of the FER was decided to dissolve and restore Soviet power in the Far East. The people's assembly was also supported by the NRA commanders. November 15 DRV was incorporated into the RSFSR as the Far Eastern region.
Situation in Primorye in the summer - in the autumn of 1922
From the middle of 1922, the last stage of the struggle with the White Guards and interventionists in the Far East began. The situation in the East has changed dramatically in favor of Soviet Russia. The defeat of the White Guards near Volochaevka in February shook the position of the Japanese in Primorye. The victorious conclusion of the Civil War in the European part of Russia, a turn in the foreign policy area - Soviet Russia was emerging from isolation, a series of diplomatic and economic negotiations with capitalist countries began, all of which influenced the Japanese government’s policy towards Russia.
The American government, to earn points in the field of "peacemaking" (after the failure of its own military adventure in Russia) and convinced of the uselessness of Washington’s stay in the Far East, began to put strong pressure on Tokyo, demanding to withdraw its troops from Russian Primorye. The United States did not want to strengthen the position of the Japanese Empire in the Asia-Pacific region, since they themselves wanted to dominate this region.
In addition, the situation was not the best in Japan itself. The economic crisis, the huge expenditure on intervention - they reached 1,5 billion yen, human losses, low return on expansion into Russian lands, caused a sharp increase in public discontent. The internal political situation was not the best for the “party of war”. Economic problems, the growth of the tax burden led to an increase in protest moods in the country. In the summer of 1922, the Communist Party was established in Japan, which began to work to create the League Against Intervention. Various anti-war societies appear in the country, in particular, the Society for the Rapprochement with Soviet Russia, the Association of Non-intervention, and so on.
As a result of the political situation that was unfavorable for the Japanese military party, Takahashi's cabinet resigned. The Minister of War and the Chief of the General Staff also resigned. The new government, headed by Admiral Kato, who represented the interests of the "maritime party", inclined to shift the center of gravity of the expansion of the Japanese Empire from the shores of Primorye to the Pacific, made a statement about the cessation of hostilities in Primorye.
4 September 1922 launched a new conference in Changchun, which was attended by the joint delegation of the RSFSR and the FER on the one hand and the delegation of the Japanese Empire on the other. The Soviet delegation immediately made the main condition for further negotiations with Japan - to immediately clear all the territories of the Far East from the Japanese forces. The Japanese representative Matsudaira went away from a direct response to this condition. Only after the Soviet delegation decided to leave the conference, did the Japanese side say that the evacuation of the Japanese troops from Primorye was already resolved. However, the Japanese refused to withdraw troops from North Sakhalin. They were going to keep it for themselves as compensation for the “Nikolaev incident”. So, they called the armed conflict between the red partisans, white and Japanese troops, which occurred in Nikolayevsk-on-Amur in the 1920 year. It was used by the Japanese command to attack on the night of 4 on 5 on April 1920 of the year on the organs of the Soviet administration and military garrisons in the Far East.
The delegation of the RSFSR and the FID demanded the withdrawal of troops from all Soviet territories. Negotiations reached an impasse and September 19 was interrupted. After the resumption of negotiations, both sides continued to insist on their demands. Then the representatives of the DRV offered to investigate the "Nikolaev events" and discuss them on the merits. The Japanese authorities could not go for it, because the provocative behavior of the Japanese military could be revealed. The head of the Japanese delegation said that the Japanese government cannot enter into the details of the “Nicholas events”, since the governments of the RSFSR and the FER are not recognized by Japan. As a result, 26 September negotiations were again interrupted. In reality, the negotiations in Changchun should have become a cover for the preparation of a new military operation against the DRV.
The situation in the Amur region Zemsky Krai was unstable. The government of Spiridon Merkulov discredited himself even in the eyes of the local bourgeoisie, "selling" the Ussurian railway, the port on Egersheld, the Suchan coal mines, the Far Eastern Shipbuilding Plant, etc., to the Japanese. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Vladivostok even demanded that all power be handed over to the "National Assembly". The government was not able to organize an effective fight against partisan detachments. The guerrilla movement in the summer - fall of 1922 took on a significant scale in the Southern Primorye. Red partisans made raids on Japanese posts, military warehouses, destroyed communications, communication lines, attacked military echelons. In fact, by the autumn the Japanese were forced to leave the countryside, holding only the railway and the city.
In the camp of the White Guards also went fermentation. Kappelevtsy supported the "People's Assembly", which declared the Merkulov government deposed. Semenovna, on the other hand, continued to support the Merkulovs (the chairman’s brother, Nikolai Merkulov, served as minister of naval and foreign affairs), who in turn issued a decree dissolving the Chamber of Commerce and the National Assembly. The People’s Assembly established its own cabinet of ministers and then decided to combine the functions of the chairman of the new government and the commander of the armed forces of Primorye. In fact, it was about creating a military dictatorship. General Michael Diterikhs was invited to this post. He was the commander of the Siberian army, the Eastern Front and the chief of staff of A.V. Kolchak. After the defeat of Kolchak left for Harbin. He was an ardent monarchist and supporter of the revival of the pre-Petrine social and political order in Russia. Initially, he agreed with the Merkulovs and confirmed their authority in the Amur region. "People's Assembly" was dissolved. 28 June was assembled "Zemsky Sobor". 23 July 1922, at the Zemsky Sobor in Vladivostok, M. Diterikhs was elected Ruler of the Far East and Zemsky Voevod - commander of the Zemsky Party (it was created on the basis of the White Guard units). The Japanese were asked weapons and ammunition, and the postponement of the evacuation of Japanese troops. By September 1922, the reorganization and armament of the “Zemstvo rati” was completed, and General Diterikhs announced a campaign against the DRV under the slogan “For Faith, Tsar Mikhail and Holy Russia.”
State of the People’s Revolutionary Army (NAR) by the fall of 1922
From the Combined and Chita brigades, the 2nd Amur Rifle Division was formed as part of three regiments: the 4th Volochaev Order of the Red Banner, the 5th Amur and 6th Khabarovsk. It also included the Troitskosavsky cavalry regiment, light artillery division of 76-mm cannons of a 3-battery composition, a howitzer division of two batteries and an engineer battalion. The commander of the 2nd Amur Rifle Division was simultaneously the commander of the Amur Military District, he was subordinated to the Blagoveshchensk fortified area, the division of armored trains (consisting of three armored trains - No. 2, 8 and 9), aviation detachment and two border cavalry divisions. The Trans-Baikal Cavalry Division was reorganized into the Separate Far Eastern Cavalry Brigade.
The command reserve included the 1-I Trans-Baikal Rifle Division consisting of: 1-th Chita, 2-th Nerchinsky and 3-th Verkhneudinsky regiments. The regular parts of the NRA to the beginning of the Seaside operation numbered over 15 thousand bayonets and sabers, 42 guns and 431 machine gun. The NRA relied on the assistance of the 5 th Red Banner Army, which was located in Eastern Siberia and Transbaikalia.
In addition, guerrilla military districts submitted to the command of the NRA: Suchansky, Spassky, Anuchinsky, Nikolsk-Ussuriysky, Olginsky, Imansky and Prikhankaysky. They had at their disposal up to 5 thousand fighters. They were led by a specially created Military Council of partisan detachments of Primorye under the leadership of A. K. Flegontov, then replaced by M. Volsky.
The beginning of the evacuation of the Japanese. "Zemsky army" Diterikhs and its September offensive
The Japanese, delaying their evacuation, decided to hold it in three stages. On the first, to withdraw troops from the suburbs of Primorye, on the second, to evacuate the garrisons from Grodekovo and Nikolsk-Ussuriisky, on the third to leave Vladivostok. The commander of the Japanese expeditionary corps, General Tachibana, suggested that Diterikhsu take advantage of this time in order to strengthen and strike at the DRV. In late August, the Japanese began to gradually withdraw their troops from Spassk to the south. At the same time, the White Guards began to occupy areas cleaned by the Japanese, to receive from them fortifications, abandoned weapons.
In September, the Zemsky Militia numbered around 8 thousand bayonets and sabers, 24 guns, 81 machine guns and 4 armored trains. Its basis was formed by units of the former Far Eastern Army, which had previously been part of the army of General V. O. Kappel and Ataman G. M. Semenov. Zemsky army was divided into: Volga group of General V.M. Molchanov (more than 2,6 thousand bayonets and sabers); Siberian group of General I.S. Smolin (1 thousand people); Siberian Cossack group of General Borodin (more than 900 people); Far Eastern Cossack group of General FL Glebova (more than 1 thousand); reserve and technical parts (more than 2,2 thousand).
Attempts to Diterikhs to increase the "army" at the expense of mobilization as a whole failed. Workers and peasants did not want to fight, hiding in the taiga and on the hills. The bulk of the bourgeois youth chose to escape in out of reach of the Bolsheviks Harbin, and not to defend the Amur region Zemsky edge. Therefore, although the backbone of the "rati" consisted of remnants of the Kappelevsky and Semenovsky troops who had a great combat experience, but there was no one to replace them.
September 1 avant-garde "Zemstvo rati" - the Volga group, supported by two armored trains, launched an offensive in the north. The Whites sought to seize the railway bridge across the Ussuri River near the station. Ussuri and led the attack in two main directions: along the Ussuriysk railway and to the east of it - through the settlements of Runovka - Olkhovka - Uspenka, further along the valley of the r. Ussuri on Tehmenevo and Glazovka. In the second direction, White planned to enter the flank and the rear in red. By this time, the NRA had not concentrated its forces, which were scattered over a thousand-kilometer space, covering the operational directions that were far from each other (Manchu and Ussuri). As a result, the white parts having a numerical advantage pushed aside the Reds and September 6 captured Art. Shmakovka and Assumption. September 7 Red after a fierce battle moved further north to the river Ussuri at the line Medveditsky - Glazovka. At the same time, the Siberian group and the Siberian Cossack group of generals Smolin and Borodin began fighting against partisans in the Prikhankaysky, Lpuchi, Suchan and Nikolsk-Ussuri military districts.
Soon, the Red Army units regrouped, received reinforcements, and launched a counteroffensive; on September 14, they again occupied Art. Shmakovka and Assumption. White moved to the area of travel Kraevsky, Art. Oviyaginos. As a result, whites actually returned to their starting positions. The White Command did not have sufficient forces to develop the offensive and after receiving information about the concentration of the NRA troops that had begun in Primorye, it chose to go on the defensive.
September 15 Diterikhs held the Far Eastern National Congress in Nikolsk-Ussuriysk, where he called for "giving a decisive battle to the communists on the last free piece of land" and asked the Japanese not to rush into evacuation. A special body, the “Council of the Congress”, was elected to help Diterikhs. A decree on general mobilization was issued and a large emergency tax was imposed on the commercial and industrial segments of the population of Primorye for military needs. The Siberian Cossack group of General Borodin was given the order to crush the Anuchinsky partisan district in order to secure the rear of the Zemsky rati. None of these activities has been fully implemented. The Chamber of Commerce declared the lack of funds, the population of the region was in no hurry to "replenish the Zemsky Army" and enter into a "decisive battle with the Communists."
The Zemsky Host, at the beginning of the offensive of the Red Army, consisted of about 15,5 thousand bayonets and sabers, 32 guns, 750 machine guns, 4 armored trains and 11 aircraft. Her weapons and ammunition were replenished by the Japanese army.
Seaside operation
By the end of September, parts of the 2-th Amur Division and the Separate Far Eastern Caubrigade were concentrated in the area of Art. Shmakovka and Art. Ussuri. They formed a strike force under the overall command of the commander of the 2-th Amur Division, MM M. Olshansky, in the beginning of October he was replaced by Ya. Z. Pokus. 1-I Trans-Baikal Division, following by rail in trains and along the Amur and Ussuri rivers on steamboats, passed Khabarovsk and moved south. This division entered the reserve command of the NRA.
According to the command plan, the immediate task of the operation was the liquidation of the enemy's Volga region group in the area of art. Sviyagino The Red Army was supposed to prevent its withdrawal to Spassk, and then defeat the Spassky group of whites with the assistance of partisan detachments and develop the offensive in a southerly direction. The 5 of October should have been hit by two groups of troops. The first is the Separate Far Eastern Caubrigade and the 5 th Amur Regiment, reinforced with 4 guns, was supposed to strike around the railway line from the east. The second, the 6 th Khabarovsk rifle regiment and Troitskosavsky cavalry regiment, with a light artillery battalion and two armored trains, had the task of advancing along the Ussuri railway. The remaining parts remained in reserve.
The commander of the partisans, Mikhail Petrovich Volsky, his detachments were reinforced by a special-purpose detachment under the command of Gülzhof, was ordered to defeat enemy units located in the Anuchino-Ivanovka area by any means. And then concentrate the main forces in the area of Chernyshevka for an offensive in the general direction of Art. Flour and access to the rear of the Spassky group "Zemsky rati." In addition, the partisans were to stop the railway communication between Nikolsk-Ussuriysk and Art. Evgenievka.
The first stage of the operation (4 — 7 of October). In the morning, the Reds launched an offensive along the railroad and, after a stubborn 2-hour battle, captured the Kraevsky junction. October 5 was captured Duhovsky. October 6 The 6 th Khabarovsk and Troitskosavsk regiments launched an attack on the station. Sviyagino On the same day, the Povolzhskaya group "Zemsky rati" in full force, with the support of two armored trains, launched a counter-offensive, trying to knock off the offensive rush of the Reds and seize the initiative in their hands. A fierce head-on battle broke out in Sviyagino. Violent firefight, developing into a melee, lasted until late evening.
General Molchanov, convinced that the red units could not be overthrown and fearing to bypass the right flank, decided to withdraw his troops to Spassk, to ready-made positions. White retreated, hiding behind the fire of armored trains, artillery and machine-gun teams, destroying railway tracks. This withdrawal became possible, since the bypassing group failed to reach the flank and rear of the White Volga region in time. As a result, White moved to Spassk calmly.
Jacob Pokus, trying to correct the mistake, decided to go and attack Spassk. On the morning of October 7, an order was given to attack and seize Spassk in the evening. However, the troops were already tired of previous battles and marches, and could not fulfill this order.
During the 1 th stage, the NRA was able to move south almost 50 km and capture an important point of the enemy defense - Art. Sviyagino But to fulfill the main task - to destroy the Volga grouping of the enemy, failed. Whites, though they suffered heavy losses, left and consolidated on the new, well-fortified border of the Spassky fortified area.
To be continued ...
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