100 years ago, in February 1920, the Soviet troops of the Caucasian Front carried out the Tikhoretsk operation and inflicted a heavy defeat on Denikin's army. The White Guard Front collapsed, the remnants of the White troops retreating indiscriminately, which predetermined the victory of the Red Army in the North Caucasus.
During this operation, the largest counter-equestrian battle of Yegorlyk took place in the entire Civil War, where the total forces of both sides reached 25 thousand horsemen.
Kuban Troubles
While the volunteers and the Donets fought on the Don-Manych front and won their last victories, the rear of Denikin's army completely disintegrated. Despite the fact that the front approached directly to the Kuban, only a few thousand Kuban Cossacks remained in Denikin's army. The rest of the Kuban people deserted or went to their native villages for "reorganization" (in fact, they deserted with the permission of the command). The process of "forming" new parts took on an endless character. And the Kuban regiments that were still at the front were completely decomposed and were on the verge of collapse.
The Kuban "tops" were seething again, which Denikin had only recently calmed with the help of General Pokrovsky. The commander of the 4th Consolidated Cavalry Corps, Major General Uspensky, who was elected ataman of the Kuban army, who tried to conduct a conciliatory policy, stayed in his post for only a month. He contracted typhus and died. Left-wing politicians and self-styled activists immediately became active. Using the news of the defeats of Denikin's army, which weakened the threat of the use of military force, they subdued the Kuban Rada. The Rada canceled all concessions to the Supreme Soviet of Yugoslavia and restored its legislative functions. General Bukretov was elected the new Kuban ataman. He fought bravely during the world war on the Caucasian front, but during the turmoil he was noted for abuse, was even arrested on charges of bribery.
Leading posts in the Rada and the regional government were taken by supporters of independence and populists, who again headed for a split. Any decisions were made not out of necessity, but for the damage of the Supreme Command of the Armed Forces of the USSR. The Socialist-Revolutionaries, who spoke of the need for a coup, and the Mensheviks, who called for an agreement with the Bolsheviks, became more active. Nobody bothered them. All attempts to form a new army in the Kuban were sabotaged. General Wrangel planned to form a new cavalry army in the Kuban, people and material resources were available for this, but all his attempts were paralyzed by local politicians and officials.
On January 18, 1920, the Supreme Cossack circle was assembled in Yekaterinodar: deputies from the Don, Kuban and Terek troops. The Supreme Circle declared itself the "supreme power" in the Don, Kuban and Terek, and began to create an "independent union state" in order to fight the Bolsheviks and establish internal freedom and order. It is clear that this stillborn initiative had no positive effect, only increased confusion and vacillation. The deputies immediately quarreled with each other. Tertsy and most of the Donets stood for the continuation of the struggle with the Reds. The left-wing Kuban people and part of the Don people were inclined towards reconciliation with the Bolsheviks. In addition, the majority of the Kuban people and some of the Don people supported a break with the Denikin government. Denikin was declared a "reactionary" and put forward utopian projects of an alliance with Georgia, Azerbaijan, Petliura and even gangs of the "green". Demands were again put forward to limit the defense of the Kuban. Immediately, dreams arose about "fixing the borders" of the Cossack regions by including parts of the Voronezh, Tsaritsyn, Stavropol and Black Sea provinces.
Kuban army and South Russian government
The Westerners, who have their own interest everywhere, did not stand aside. Bukretov negotiated with the British and French to create a South Russian "democratic" government. The Rada announced that England would support them and provide them with everything they needed. True, General Holman immediately published a refutation. The Supreme Circle had practically no power. But the fantastic picture of the disintegration of the rear and the inability to divert forces from the front, which was bursting at the seams, did not allow Denikin to restore order. He could only threaten the volunteers to leave, which somewhat cooled the hotheads in the rear. It was good to be engaged in "politics" and verbiage under the protection of the bayonets of the White Guards. The arrival of the Bolsheviks would quickly put an end to this orgy (which soon happened).
Therefore, Denikin, in order to prevent a break with the hesitating and war-tired mass of Cossacks, made concessions. So, he agreed to the creation of the Kuban Army of the AFYUR. It was created on February 8, 1920 by reorganizing the Caucasian army, which became the Kuban. First, Shkuro, popular in the Kuban, led the new army, then Ulagai. The army consisted of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Kuban corps.
Also, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Yugoslavia conducted negotiations with representatives of the Circle on the creation of a national power. After the evacuation from Rostov, the Special Meeting was dissolved, it was replaced by a new government headed by General Lukomsky under the commander-in-chief of the AFSR. The composition of the government was the same, but in a reduced composition. And the territory controlled by Denikin's army was sharply reduced - to the Black Sea province, part of the Stavropol Territory and the Crimea. Now they planned to form a new government with the participation of the Cossacks. As a result, Denikin conceded and went to an agreement with representatives of the Don region, Kuban and Terek. The troops of the Cossack state formations were under the operational subordination of Denikin, and their representatives were included in the new government. In March 1920, the South Russian government was established. Denikin was declared the head of the new government. N. M. Melnikov (chairman of the Don government) became the head of government, General A. K. Kelchevsky (chief of staff of the Don army) became the minister of war and naval. True, this new government lasted only until the end of March, since the white front in the North Caucasus collapsed.
At the same time, the Kuban government refused to recognize the new South Russian government. The Kuban continued to decompose. Replenishments from here to the front have completely stopped. This caused a conflict with the Donets, who tried to force the Kuban to fight. It even got to the point of sending the Don punitive detachments to the Kuban villages to force the Cossacks to go to the front. But without success. It turned out to be impossible to do this. The Kubans turned their backs on the Denikin government even more, began to move into the ranks of the rebels and the Reds. Local "greens" became more active and attacked communications with Novorossiysk. The appointment of Shkuro, the former idol of the Kuban people, as the commander of the new Kuban army did not help either. He was for unity with Denikin, so local politicians criticized him harshly.
The Kuban ataman Bukretov pursued an open anti-Denikin policy, discussed with the independents the replacement of the South Russian government with a directory of atamans of three Cossack troops. The self-styled dreamed of a Cossack dictator who would drive out the "foreigners" and declare the Kuban power. The Kuban was plunged into complete chaos.
New Caucasian Front
In addition, Denikin received another front in this chaotic atmosphere. On the territory of Georgia, Russian Mensheviks and Socialist-Revolutionaries in the fall of 1919 established the Committee for the Liberation of the Black Sea Region, headed by Vasily Filippovsky. From the Red Army men of the 11th and 12th Soviet armies, interned in the Georgian Republic, and the rebel peasants from the Black Sea, they began to form an army. It was provided and armed by the Georgian government and trained by Georgian officers. On January 28, 1920, the army of the Committee (about 2 thousand people) crossed the border and began an offensive in the Black Sea province.
The 52nd White Brigade was stationed in this direction. But the brigade had low combat effectiveness, several of its battalions were small and unreliable. They mainly consisted of prisoners of the Red Army. They didn’t run away just because there was nowhere to run, the house was too far away. Simultaneously with the offensive of the Committee's troops, local "greens" began to leave the White Guards in the rear. Attacked from both sides, the Denikinites were scattered, some fled, others surrendered. The troops of the Committee occupied Adler, on February 2 - Sochi. Here the Committee announced the creation of an independent Black Sea Republic. He called on the Kuban Rada to join the union.
Further, the troops of the Black Sea Republic launched an offensive to the north. The commander of the troops of the Black Sea coast of the AFSR, General Lukomsky, had almost no troops, only small unreliable units that easily went over to the side of the enemy. The 2nd Infantry Division (a division in name only, no larger than a battalion in size) was thrown into the battle, which was "reinforced" with local reinforcements. In the very first battle it was defeated, the reinforcements went over to the side of the rebels.
Due to the inability to fulfill his duties, Lukomsky resigned. Major General Burnevich became the new commander. Meanwhile, the troops of the Black Sea Republic continued to advance. The contractions took place according to the same pattern. The White Guards, having gathered several companies or battalions with the world along a string, set up a barrier in a convenient position between the mountains and the sea. The Greens, who knew the area well, easily bypassed the enemy and attacked from behind. Panic began, and the White's defense was falling apart. Having won the victory and dividing the trophies, the local “greens” went home and celebrated their success for some time. It all started over again. White was building a new line of defense. The rebel army bypassed them. As a result, on February 11, the Greens occupied Lazarevskaya and began to threaten Tuapse. At this time, Georgia, under the guise of war, "corrected" the border with Russia in its favor.
Tikhoretsk operation
The main thing was decided not at meetings and in offices, but at the front. In January - early February 1920, during the Don-Manych operation, the Reds could not overcome the defense of the White Guards in the Don area, and their main shock formations (Budyonny's Horse Army and Dumenko's 2nd Cavalry Corps) were repulsed and suffered significant losses in people and weapons. The Red Army failed to cross the Don in the lower reaches, where the volunteers defended, reached the Manych, but failed to gain a foothold on its left bank. The front command was changed. Shorin, who came into conflict with Budyonny and his staff, was replaced by the "winner of Kolchak" Tukhachevsky.
Both sides were preparing to continue the battle. The forces of the parties were approximately equal: the Red Army - over 50 thousand bayonets and sabers (including about 19 thousand sabers) with 450 guns, the White Army - about 47 thousand people (including over 25 thousand sabers), 450 guns. Both whites and reds planned to advance. It seemed to the white command that all was not yet lost and that it was possible to launch a counteroffensive. Defeat the Red Caucasian Front. The morale of the volunteers and donors after the victories at Bataysk and on Manych increased. Moreover, after the agreements reached with the Cossacks, the appearance on the front of the Kuban divisions and reinforcements was expected. There was a combat-ready Pavlov strike group. The equestrian group of General Starikov was formed from the bottom. On February 8, 1920, Denikin issued an order for the transition to a general offensive of the northern group of forces with the main blow in the Novocherkassk direction with the aim of capturing Rostov and Novocherkassk. The transition to the offensive was planned in the near future, at which time the Kuban army (the former Caucasian) was to receive reinforcements.
Meanwhile, the Soviet command was preparing a new offensive with the aim of breaking through the defense of the whites on the river. Manych, the defeat of the North Caucasian grouping and the cleansing of the region from the White Guards. The offensive began along the entire front: the troops of the 8th, 9th, and 10th were to force the Don and Manych, crush the opposing enemy forces. Sokolnikov's 8th Army struck in the direction of Kagalnitskaya in order to break through the defenses of the Volunteer and 3rd Don corps in order to reach the river. Kagalnik; Dushkevich's 9th army was supposed to break through the defenses of the 3rd and 1st Don corps; Pavlov's 10th Army opposed the Kuban Army; The 11th army of Vasilenko struck in the direction of Stavropol - Armavir.
But the main blow was delivered by the 1st Cavalry Army, supported by the rifle divisions of the 10th Army. The infantry was supposed to break through the enemy's defenses, cavalry was introduced into the gap to separate the enemy armies and destroy them in parts. For this, a regrouping of forces was carried out. The 1st Cavalry Army of Budyonny was transferred to the Platovskaya - Velikoknyazheskaya area, from where it was supposed to strike at the Torgovaya - Tikhoretskaya, at the junction of the Don and Kuban armies. To the 10th and 11th armies through Tsaritsyn and Astrakhan, reinforcements were pulled up at the expense of the troops that were freed after the liquidation of the Kolchak and Uralites.
The offensive of the Caucasian Front. Counterattacks by Denikin's army
On February 14, 1920, the Red Army launched an offensive. Attempts by the troops of the 8th and 9th armies to force the Don and Manych were unsuccessful. Only by the evening of February 15, the cavalry division of the 9th Army and the 1st Caucasian Cavalry Division of the 10th Army managed to force the Manych and take a small bridgehead. In the sector of the 10th Army, the situation was better. She pounced on the weak Kuban army. She retreated. The Kuban army did not receive the promised replenishments, only one Plastun (infantry) corps of General Kryzhanovsky, who defended the Tikhoretsk area, approached the beginning of the battle. The 10th Army, reinforced by the 50th and 34th Infantry Divisions of the 11th Army, was able to overcome the resistance of the 1st Kuban Corps and on February 16 captured the Trade. In the breakthrough, Budyonny's army was introduced - the 4th, 6th and 11th cavalry divisions (about 10 thousand sabers). The Red cavalry went up the Bolshoy Yegorlyk River to the rear of Torgovaya, threatening communications with Tikhoretskaya.
The white command sent to liquidate the cavalry group of General Pavlov - the 2nd and 4th Don corps (about 10-12 thousand horsemen), which previously stood opposite the 9th Soviet army. Pavlov's group, following up the Manych, was to, together with the 1st right-flank Don corps, strike at the flank and rear of the enemy strike group. On February 16-17, white cavalry overturned parts of Dumenko's cavalry corps (2nd Cavalry Division) and Guy's 1st Caucasian Cavalry Division from the 10th Army on the lower Manych. On February 17, the White Cossacks struck a strong blow against the 28th Infantry Division. Divisional Commander Vladimir Azin was captured (he was executed on February 18). The Reds retreated behind Manych. Pavlov's group continued to move to Torgovaya, which had already been abandoned by the Kuban people.
As Denikin noted, this forced march of Pavlov's cavalry to Torgovaya was the beginning of the end of the white cavalry. Contrary to the advice of his subordinates, who spoke of the need to move along the right inhabited bank, General Pavlov moved along the left almost deserted bank of the Manych. There were severe frosts and blizzards. Rare farms and winter quarters could not warm such a mass of people. As a result, Pavlov's equestrian group was terribly exhausted, exhausted and morally broken. It lost almost half of its ranks to the frozen, frostbitten, sick and stragglers. Pavlov himself received frostbite. Many froze right in the saddles. On February 19, the White Cossacks tried to recapture Torgovaya, but were thrown back by the Budennovites. General Pavlov took his group to Sredne-Yegorlykskaya, continuing to suffer losses sick and frozen.
At the same time, the Volunteer Corps defeated the Reds in the Rostov direction. In the battles of February 19-21, 1920, the volunteers repelled the attacks of the 8th Soviet army and themselves launched a counteroffensive. On February 21, Denikin's troops again captured Rostov and Nakhichevan-on-Don. This fleeting success sparked a burst of hope in Yekaterinodar and Novorossiysk. At the same time, General Guselshchikov's 3rd Don Corps launched a successful offensive in the direction of Novocherkassk, took the village of Aksayskaya, intercepting the railway connection between Rostov and Novocherkassk. Further to the east, in the lower reaches of the Manych, the 1st Don Corps of General Starikov successfully opposed the units of the 1st Cavalry Corps of the Redneck and the 2nd Cavalry Corps of Dumenko, went to the village of Bogaevskaya. But these were the last successes of the whites against the background of a general catastrophe.
Egorlyk battle
The Soviet command formed a powerful strike force in the breakthrough sector. The 1st Cavalry Army was temporarily subordinated to the 20th, 34th and 50th rifle divisions. From the infantry, a shock group was formed under the command of Mikhail Velikanov (head of the 20th division). Army Budyonny and the shock group of the 10th Army, putting up a barrier to the north (units of the 11th Cavalry Division) against Pavlov's group, non-stop advancing along the Tsaritsyn-Tikhoretskaya railway. On February 21, the Budennovites took Sredne-Yegorlykskaya, and on February 22, Velikanov's group took Peschanokopskaya. On February 22, the main forces of Budyonny defeated the 1st Kuban corps in the area of Belaya Glina. The commander of the Kuban corps, General Kryzhanovsky, died with his headquarters surrounded. The Kuban army collapsed, its remnants fled or surrendered. Small groups of the Kuban army concentrated in the Tikhoretsk, Caucasian and on the approaches to Stavropol. Army Budyonny turned north, where there was a threat of a flank counterattack of the White Army. The 20th and 50th rifle divisions, the 4th, 6th and 11th cavalry divisions were sent against Pavlov's group. The 34th Rifle Division remained to cover the Tikhoretsk direction.
The white command, seeing that movement to the north was impossible due to the defeat and collapse of the right wing (Kuban army) and the exit of the Red strike group to the rear of the Don Army and the Volunteer Corps, stopped the offensive in the Rostov-Novocherkassk direction. The headquarters of the commander-in-chief of the ARSUR was transferred from Tikhoretskaya to Yekaterinodar. One corps was immediately pulled back to reinforce Pavlov's equestrian group. On February 23rd, the 8th Army restored its former front line. Taking advantage of the success of the 8th Soviet Army, the neighboring 9th Army also went on the offensive. The 1st Don Corps retreated beyond Manych. By February 26, Whites were driven back to their original positions along the entire front.
True, the situation here was overshadowed by the arrest of the corps commander Dumenko. The commander was a real national nugget, selflessly fought for Soviet power, became one of the organizers of the red cavalry. But he came into conflict with Trotsky, opposing his policy in the army. On the night of February 23-24, on the orders of Smilga Dumenko, a member of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Caucasian Front, they arrested together with the headquarters of the Consolidated Cavalry Corps. The charges were false - Dumenko was accused of the murder of the commissar of the Mikeladze corps and of organizing the rebellion. Ordzhonikidze, Stalin and Egorov spoke in defense of Dumenko, but Trotsky's line prevailed. In May, the talented people's commander was shot.
On February 23, Pavlov's group, having received reinforcements, went on the offensive and on the 24th threw back the 11th Red Cavalry Division. White took Sredne-Yegorlykskaya and moved towards Belaya Glina in order to reach the rear of the enemy. On February 25, in the area south of Sredne-Yegorlykskaya, the largest cavalry battle of the Civil War took place. It was attended by up to 25 thousand fighters from both sides. The Donets believed that the main forces of the Reds were still going to Tikhoretskaya, they did not take measures for enhanced reconnaissance and security. As a result, the White Cossacks unexpectedly ran into the main forces of the Red Army. Reconnaissance of Budyonny's army discovered the enemy in time, the units turned around. On the left wing, Timoshenko's 6th Cavalry Division met the marching columns of the 4th Don Corps with machine-gun and artillery fire, and then attacked. The Whites were overturned. The 2nd Don Corps, led by General Pavlov, went to the 20th division in the center and began to deploy to attack, but then the 4th cavalry division of Gorodovikov covered it with artillery fire from the left wing, then the 11th cavalry division attacked from the right wing. in order of battle to attack, but artillery fire from the 4th Cavalry Division fell on it from the right flank, and then the 11th Cavalry Division attacked from the east. After that, the 4th Cavalry Division also went on the attack.
The white cavalry was defeated, lost about 1 thousand people only prisoners, 29 guns, 100 machine guns and fled. The Reds took Sredne-Yegorlykskaya. Pavlov's troops retreated to Yegorlykskaya. The Whites transferred the last available forces and reserves from Bataysk and Mechetinskaya to the Yegorlykskaya-Ataman region. Volunteers, the 3rd Cavalry Corps of Yuzefovich, several separate Kuban brigades were pulled here. On February 26 - 28, the Budennovites, without the support of rifle divisions, tried to take Yegorlykskaya, but without success. The Red Command concentrated all available forces here, including the 20th Infantry, 1st Caucasian and 2nd Cavalry Divisions. On March 1 - 2, in a stubborn battle in the Yegorlykskaya - Ataman region, the Whites were defeated. The Whites retreated to Ilovaiskaya and Mechetinskaya and began to retreat in the north along the entire front. General Sidorin took the Don army across the Kagalnik River, then and further.
By the beginning of March, the volunteers left Rostov, retreated to the right bank of the Don, but still held back the onslaught of the 8th Soviet Army. The right flank of the Volunteer Corps, the retreat of the neighboring Donets, was forced to retreat from Olginskaya. White suffered heavy losses. On March 2, units of the 8th Soviet Army took Bataysk, which they had stormed so stubbornly earlier. The Reds were halfway to Tikhoretskaya and Kavkazskaya. On the left wing of the Caucasian Front, units of the 11th Army reached the Divnoe - Kizlyar line. On February 29, the Reds took Stavropol. In the rear of Denikin, the rebels captured Tuapse on February 24. Here the "green" army, under the influence of red agitators and former Red Army soldiers, was proclaimed the "Black Sea Red Army". The new Red Army launched an offensive in two directions: through the mountain passages to the Kuban, and to Gelendzhik and Novorossiysk. From complete destruction, the remnants of Denikin's army were saved by the incipient thaw, the thaw that had begun, turned the land into impassable mud and swamps. The movement of the Red Army lost speed.
Thus, Denikin's army suffered a decisive defeat. The Red Army broke through the defensive line on the Don and Manych and advanced 100-110 km south. The white cavalry was completely drained of blood and lost its striking power. The demoralized remnants of Denikin's army were relentlessly retreating to Yekaterinodar, Novorossiysk and Tuapse. In fact, the front of the White Army collapsed. The prerequisites were created for the complete liberation of the entire Kuban, Stavropol, Novorossiysk and the North Caucasus.
