Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Oleg Airapetov
[REGNUM] In the territories of southwestern Russia, only one organized force of opponents of Soviet power remained - Makhno's detachments.
Continued from Page 5
The unification of the opponents of the Bolsheviks, despite the efforts of the Pilsudchiks, did not take place. But at the end of September 1920, once again there was a possibility of an alliance between the Bolsheviks and anarchists in the territories of southwestern Russia.
On September 29, the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Ukraine decided to send a representative of the RVS of the Southwestern Front to Makhno's headquarters and to organize party work in his detachments. The anarchists arrested by the Cheka in the south-west of Russia were released. Makhno's army was supposed to begin operating in the rear of Wrangel.
On September 30, the RVS of the rebel army turned to the RVS of the Southern Front with a proposal to end hostilities on the basis of recognition of Soviet power, subordination to the front command and non-violation of the internal organization of Makhno's army. On October 2, after reaching an agreement, Frunze gave the order to stop hostilities. So another agreement was concluded between Makhno and the Bolsheviks. The parties agreed on joint actions against Wrangel and freedom of propaganda on the eve of the convening of the All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets. The reason for the cessation of armed struggle with each other was the threat of revolution from Wrangel, Poland and the Entente.
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In mid-October 1920, the commander of the Southern Front was preparing to break through the front, into which the cavalry was to go. This time, the preparation of the strike was more thorough. On October 9, Frunze ordered Gorodovikov to start the raid:
"Now you have the most responsible task, on the speed and energy of the performance of which the whole fate of the decisive operation depends. With a strong and energetic blow, everything that crossed should be crushed and destroyed."
Against Wrangel, Frunze concentrated three armies and two cavalry armies - 133,000 bayonets and sabers with 500 guns, 17 armored trains, 31 armored vehicles, 29 aircraft against 37,220 bayonets and sabers with 213 guns, 6 armored vehicles and eight air squadrons. On October 24, Frunze ordered the front to go over to the offensive:
"The enemy, having suffered a series of cruel setbacks in recent battles, is broken and is again ready to climb into the Crimea, feeling impending doom. Our task is to prevent this departure. With a united, swift strike by all the armies of the front, it is necessary to defeat its manpower and break into the Crimea on the shoulders of the fleeing White Guards. The campaign can be ended with one blow, and to fulfill it is our duty to the whole country and to ourselves. Under no circumstances should a winter campaign be allowed."
The task set before the front was solved only partially. It was not possible to break through into the Crimea on the shoulders of Wrangel's retreating army, but it suffered such losses that the winter campaign became impossible for it. In the battles of October 21-28 in the region of Northern Tavria, the main forces of Wrangel were defeated. The command of the advancing 4th and 13th armies of the Southern Front was unable to cope with their control after the breakthrough. The movement of Soviet troops was poorly organized, which made it easier for the enemy to return to the peninsula. Vice Admiral M. A. Kedrov, commander of the Black Sea Fleet, recalled:
"It was clear that we were holding out with difficulty—our operations in Tavria were no longer successful, the troops were tired, there was no heavy artillery, no horses; the nautical workshops worked for the army, delaying the repair of ships, the army was poorly dressed, and early but unusually severe cold came."
The Whites returned to the peninsula, but weakened numerically and morally. About 20,000 Wrangel soldiers were taken prisoner, more than 100 guns, 100 locomotives, 2,000 wagons, a large number of warehouses with ammunition and army property were captured. The number of Wrangel infantry was reduced by three, and the cavalry by two times. The defense of the gates to the Crimea was already held by about 19,500 bayonets and sabers with 180 guns.
"The feast ended in disaster,” recalled the military prosecutor of the Don Corps. “Crimea has again become a besieged fortress."
Having suffered heavy losses, the remnants of the Russian army were able to withdraw to the Crimea. Wrangel understood that his troops were no longer combat-ready. On October 27, the Wrangel Headquarters decided to begin preparations for the evacuation of the Crimea.
Frunze also understood the state of Wrangel's troops. On November 5, he gave the directive for the assault:
"The enemy, disorganized and broken morally by the last defeat, hiding behind the natural and artificial fortifications of the isthmuses, due to the growing insurgent movement in the rear, is unable to recover quickly and, in the event of a further offensive, will not be able to put up a serious rebuff."
Soon this assessment was confirmed in practice, although the assault on the positions occupied by Wrangel's army was very difficult. The Turkish Val was well fortified - trenches were built on it, artillery positions, machine-gun nests, fox holes, and dugouts were equipped. Wire fences with several stakes were installed in front of and behind the moat. Behind the Turkish Val, a rear fortified position near Yushun was prepared. The southern coast of the Sivash and the Lithuanian Peninsula were fortified, however, much weaker. The proximity of the railway allowed the defenders to support their positions with the fire of armored trains, which inflicted heavy losses on the Red infantry. On October 24 (November 6), Slashchov gave an interview to the Vremya newspaper:
"The population of the peninsula can be quite calm. Our army is so large that one-fifth of its composition would be enough to defend the Crimea. The fortifications of Perekop and Sivash are so strong that the red command will not have enough manpower or technical means to overcome ... "
The Reds had to advance several kilometers in open space, the advantage of the defenders in artillery and the support that the fleet provided them.
The plan of the red command was based on the calculation of pinning down the enemy forces at Perekop with strong frontal attacks and at the same time bypassing them through the Sivash, which had become very shallow. The winds drove water from the "rotten sea", which made it possible to cross its bottom to the Lithuanian peninsula. On the night of November 8, the 15th and 52nd Rifle Divisions crossed the Sivash and established themselves on the northern outskirts of the Lithuanian Peninsula.
The 51st Infantry Division attacked the fortifications on the Turkish Val in the forehead, but was repulsed with heavy losses. However, it no longer mattered. The threat from the Lithuanian forced the White command to take units from the Turkish Wall. Wrangel failed to return the positions behind the Sivash, and on the morning of November 9, the Turkish Val itself was taken. The troops of the Russian army retreated to Yushun. It was also not possible to hold on to these positions; high hopes were pinned on them.
On November 11, signed by M. F. Frunze, I. T. Smilga and B. Kuhn, an ultimatum was sent to Wrangel:
"In view of the obvious futility of further resistance by your troops, threatening only the senseless shedding of new blood streams, I suggest that you immediately stop the fight and lay down arms to all the troops of the army and navy subordinate to you. If the above proposal is accepted, the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southern Front, on the basis of the powers granted to it by the central Soviet government, guarantees you all who laid down their arms full forgiveness for offenses related to the civil war. All those who do not want to work in Soviet Russia will be provided with the opportunity to travel abroad without hindrance, provided that they refuse on parole from any participation in the further struggle against Soviet Russia. A response by radio is expected no later than 24 hours. November 12, new style."
The retreating in the bulk were not going to remain at the mercy of the winner and preferred to immediately take the opportunity to leave the country. Preparations for the evacuation were already underway, parts of the Russian army were assigned to different ports of the Crimea in order to avoid confusion and disorder. There they were expected to be loaded onto transports and warships. Wrangel appointed Gen.-L. D. M. Siegel, and in the rest of the Crimea - Gen.-l. M. N. Skalon. This difficult task fell on their shoulders. Refugees and units were drawn to the ports, it immediately became clear that there were more people who wanted to evacuate than expected, and that the available tonnage was not enough.
On November 12, the southern front completely captured the gates to the Crimean peninsula - the Perekop and Chongar isthmuses. By November 16, the remnants of the defeated Russian army left the Crimea, the victory of Frunze's troops was complete. A total of 129 pennants took on board all those who decided to leave Russia.
The allies - the British and French - did not provide any noticeable assistance in the evacuation. Despite the extremely difficult circumstances and the winter time of passage, there were no losses during the voyage to the straits. The warships and transports were crammed with troops and refugees who were leaving with them. Their retreat was covered by the French armored cruiser Waldeck-Rousseau. From November 14 to 23, the ships of the fleet concentrated near Constantinople, from where they were then transported to the Gallipoli peninsula.
Immediately after receiving the news of Wrangel's defeat, Savinkov's units began to retreat from Podolia. As Permikin noted:
"The sudden catastrophe in Crimea makes our further efforts unnecessary."
The 3rd Army in the territory of the South-West of Russia did not have time to take action. On November 25, her soldiers and officers learned about the defeat of Wrangel. Already in January 1921 they were withdrawn to the rear, disarmed and disbanded. Almost simultaneously with this, the Petliurists were finally driven out of the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. They were attacked by the Red Army. On November 9, Kotovsky's brigade began to operate against them.
For 12 days, the Kotovites went through the rear of the enemy, smashing them and depriving the nationalists of the slightest hope of success. The Petliurists retreated to the border Volochisk, where they were again defeated and driven back across the border, across the Zbruch River. The fugitives left 18 light and two heavy guns, 200 machine guns and two armored trains. Petlyura's government train was also captured.
On November 18, 1920, the Directory and the Russian Political Committee in Poland signed a military convention. Representatives of Savinkov recognized state independence and the government of the UNR headed by Petlyura, and Petlyura's representatives recognized the troops of a separate Russian army operating on the territory of the UNR as allied. However, at the time of the signing of the convention, this republic had almost no territory, and soon it did not exist at all.
The Petliura government was well aware of its immediate prospects, and on November 18 it adopted a resolution on the conditions for the presence of the army and government on the territory of Poland. The reason for the failures in actions against the Soviet troops was declared a lack of ammunition.
The conditions for staying in Poland (apparently the Directory imagined that it was in a position to set conditions) was to keep the army in one place, the preservation by the army of weapons, by the government the right to print money, the freedom of movement of members of the government, and so on. It was recognized as necessary to issue a declaration to the population of the Ukrainian SSR and the peoples of the world, as well as"to take drastic measures regarding obtaining a loan in Polish currency and monthly quotas from the Polish government" .
The value of these pearls of state thought was soon tested in practice. On November 21, the remnants of Petliura's army retreated to Poland, where they were disarmed, the UNR army ceased to exist. Almost simultaneously, control over Soviet Belarus was also restored. Here, too, soon after the capture of the Crimea, experienced, reliable, motivated and inspired by victories units appeared. Balakhovich's detachments immediately felt their presence on themselves. Bulak-Balakhovich's "People's Army" was defeated; on November 21, it was forced to leave Mozyr. The withdrawal of this army turned into a stampede to the Polish border. Balakhovich was already in Warsaw on December 5, and the remnants of his troops jumped out of the encirclement and took refuge in Poland.
In the territories of the South-West of Russia, only one organized force of opponents of Soviet power remained - Makhno's detachments. He refused to accept Frunze's conditions and to pour his detachments into the Red Army with complete subordination to the command. On November 24-25, 1920, his rebel army (up to 3,000 people) was also defeated in the Gulyai-Polye area, but the ataman himself left with a detachment of 150 people and continued to resist. The battles with the anarchist partisans were extremely difficult and protracted. In December 1920, Lenin spoke to the deputies of the Congress of Soviets about the reasons for the decision taken by the government:
"Comrades, you also know, of course, that our temporary failures in the war with Poland and the severity of our situation at certain moments of the war depended on the fact that we had to fight against Wrangel, officially recognized by one imperialist power and receiving colossal material, military and other help. And we had to, in order to end the war as soon as possible, resort to a rapid concentration of troops in order to deliver a decisive blow to Wrangel."
The civil war in the European part of Russia is over. Outside its borders, in the very first approximation to the beginning of 1921, there were 1,964,000 refugees.
The “democratic counter-revolution”, which started the war under the slogan of defending the Constituent Assembly, whose work ended in January 1918 with a call to the allies for help, again reminded of itself three years later.
January 8–21, 1921 22 deputies of the Assembly, including N. D. Avksentiev, I. M. Brushvit, E. K. Breshko-Breshkovskaya, A. M. Vishnyak, A. F. Kerensky, N. V. Tchaikovsky, A. Meyendorff F., Milyukova P. N., Konovalova A. I., Maklakova V. A., Chernova V. M. and others, gathered in a private apartment in Paris. The meeting was chaired by Avksentiev. The assembly adopted a series of resolutions, again convincing foreign governments that it was the bearer of state power and that Russia would never recognize tyranny in general and the tyranny of the Bolsheviks in particular. It warned that treaties concluded on behalf of the Bolsheviks do not bind the peoples of free Russia, and in 1921 (!) protested against the intervention. A number of other decisions were made that no longer mattered.
October 3, 2022
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