As a result of the spring offensive of the Russian army of Kolchak, the Whites broke through the red Eastern Front in the center, defeated the northern flank of the red front; occupied vast territories, including the Izhevsk-Votkinsk region, Ufa and Bugulma, reached the approaches to Vyatka, Kazan, Samara, Orenburg.
Kolchak's army offensive
In February 1919, the Russian army under the command of Kolchak by a number of private operations was able to prepare an advantageous starting position for the transition to a general offensive. So, the White Guards struck at the 2nd Red Army and pushed its right flank to the city of Sarapul. This led to the withdrawal of the 2nd Army to the Kama line. As a result, the left flank of the 5th red army in the Ufa region was opened, and the right flank of the 3rd red army retreated to Okhansk.
Siberian army. On March 4, 1919, the Siberian army under the command of General Gaida launched a decisive offensive, striking the main blow between the cities of Okhansk and Osa, at the junction of the 3rd and 2nd red armies. Pepeliaev's 1st Central Siberian corps crossed the Kama on the ice between the towns of Osa and Okhansk, and Verzhbitsky's 3rd West Siberian corps advanced to the south. On March 7 - 8, the Whites took the cities of Osa and Okhansk, and continued to move along the river. Kams.
The Siberian army developed an offensive and occupied significant territories. However, its further movement was slowed down due to the vastness of the space, poorly developed communications of the theater of military operations, the beginning of the spring thaw and increased resistance to the Red Army. The 2nd Red Army suffered heavy losses, but retained its combat effectiveness, the breakthrough of the Red Front failed. After the work of the "Stalin-Dzerzhinsky Commission", which investigated the causes of the so-called. "Perm catastrophe", the quantitative and qualitative strengthening of the Red armies, the Reds were no longer the same as in December 1918. Retreating, they fought, maintaining the combat capability and integrity of the front.
The Whites in April 1919 again established themselves in the Izhevsk-Votkinsk region: on April 8 the Votkinsk plant was captured, on April 9 - Sarapul, by April 13 - the Izhevsk plant. Kolchakites broke through in the direction of Elabuga and Mamadysh. A white flotilla with an assault force was sent to the mouth of the Kama. Then White developed an offensive in the direction of Vyatka and Kotlas. However, the Kolchakites could not break through the front of the red armies. On April 15, the extreme right-flank units of Gaida's army entered the completely roadless and wild Pechora region in contact with small groups of the Northern White Front. However, this event, as noted earlier, did not have any serious strategic consequences. The weak Northern Front could not provide any significant assistance to Kolchak's Russian army. This was initially due to the position of the Entente, which was not going to fight with Soviet Russia in full force.
In the second half of April, the Siberian army was still advancing. But its onslaught, due to the increased resistance of the 3rd Red Army, weakened. The left flank of Gaida's army threw the right wing of the 2nd Red Army behind the lower reaches of the river. Vyatka. A serious factor was the spring thaw, the lack of a developed road network, and a huge territory. The white corps separated, lost contact with each other, could not coordinate their actions. Communications were greatly stretched, the advanced units lost the supply of ammunition, food, artillery got stuck. The troops were overworked by the previous push, there were no operational and strategic reserves to develop the first successes. The personnel shortage declared itself, the officers died, there was no one to replace them. Replenishments, mainly from peasants, had low combat efficiency, did not want to fight for the masters.
Western army. The Western army under the command of Khanzhin on March 6, 1919 began an offensive in the general direction of Ufa, Samara and Kazan. Mikhail Khanzhin was a participant in the war with Japan, during the First World War he commanded an artillery brigade, an infantry division, was an artillery inspector of the 8th Army. He played a prominent role in the Lutsk (Brusilov) breakthrough and was promoted to lieutenant general. Then the artillery inspector of the Romanian Front, the general artillery inspector under the Supreme Commander. Khanzhin proved to be a talented artillery chief and combined arms commander.
The offensive of the Khanzhin army was distinguished by a more active pace and serious results than the movement of the Siberian army. The strike group of the whites (the 2nd Ufa corps of Voitsekhovsky and the 3rd Ural corps of Golitsyn) attacked the junction between the inner flanks of the 5th and 2nd red armies, where there was an almost empty gap of 50-60 kilometers. This largely predetermined the further success of Kolchak's army in the Spring Offensive.
Commander of the Western Army Mikhail Vasilievich Khanzhin
The Whites fell on the left flank of the 5th Red Army (left flank brigade of the 27th Infantry Division), defeated and threw back the Reds. The White Guards, steeply bending to the south, moving along the Birsk-Ufa highway, with almost impunity, began to cut the rear of both extended divisions of the 5th Red Army (27th and 26th). The commander of the 5th Army Blumberg tried to throw his divisions into a counterattack, but they were defeated by the superior forces of the enemy. As a result of 4-day battles, the 5th Army was defeated, the interaction of its troops was disrupted, the remnants of the army, divided into two groups, tried to cover the two most important directions - Menzelinskoe and Bugulma.
On March 10, the 2nd Ufa Corps of Voitsekhovsky, which broke through the front of the Red Army, took Birsk on the move. The Kolchakites moved in a southerly direction, bypassing Ufa from the west. For several days they moved with impunity in the rear of the 5th Red Army, crushing them. At the same time, the 6th Ural Corps of General Sukin began a frontal offensive in the Ufa direction. On March 13, General Golitsyn's corps took Ufa, the Reds fled to the west, south of the Ufa-Samara railway. The whites were unable to surround them, but captured rich trophies, a lot of supplies and military equipment. The 5th Army retreated, suffering heavy losses as prisoners and those who fled. Many surrendered themselves and went over to the side of the whites. On March 22, the Whites took Menzelinsk, but then they left it and occupied it again on April 5.
From the 13th to the end of March, the red command tried to rectify the situation by introducing reserves and separate units in the sector of the 5th Army, as well as by concentrating and active actions of the group on the left flank of the 1st Army in the Sterlitamak area. This group launched an offensive against Ufa from the south. However, it was not possible to restore the situation. On March 18, on the left flank, part of the Southern Group of the Western Army and the troops of the Orenburg Separate Army of Dutov began an offensive. The struggle 35 kilometers south of Ufa was stubborn: settlements changed hands several times. The outcome of the battle predetermined the transition to the side of the Whites of the Bashkir cavalry regiment of the Reds and the arrival of the Izhevsk brigade on this site. By April 2, the Reds retreated, on April 5, the Whites took Sterlitamak and began an offensive on Orenburg.
The offensive in the central direction continued to develop successfully. On April 7, the Kolchakites took Belebey, on April 13 - Bugulma, on April 15 - Buguruslan. On April 21, Khanzhin's units reached the Kama, creating a threat to Chistopol. Soon they took him and created a threat to Kazan.
On the south, the Orenburg Cossacks took Orsk on April 10, and the Ural Cossacks of General Tolstov on April 17 occupied Lbischensk and laid siege to Uralsk. Dutov's Cossacks went to Orenburg, but got bogged down here. Cossacks and Bashkirs, mostly cavalry, were unable to take a well-fortified city. And the Ural Cossacks got stuck near their capital - Uralsk. As a result, the elite Cossack cavalry, instead of going into the opening gap in the center, in a raid along the red rear, got stuck near Uralsk and Orenburg.
Thus, the Western Army of Khanzhin carried out a strategic breakthrough in the center of the Eastern Front of the Reds. And if this event did not cause the collapse of the entire Eastern Front of the Red Army and, accordingly, a catastrophic situation in the eastern direction, then this was primarily due to the peculiarity of the civil war. The vast expanses of Russia swallowed up troops, and both sides waged mobile combat operations in small detachments. The Western army, as it moved forward, stretched its front more and more. Having occupied Buguruslan on April 15, Khanzhin's army stretched out already at a front of 250-300 km, having its right flank at the mouth of the river. Vyatka, and the left one is southeast of Buguruslan. On this front, five infantry divisions moved in fan-like fashion. Their striking power was constantly falling, and the troops of the second echelon and strategic reserves were very small. The Whites made a deep breakthrough, but this had little or no effect on the neighboring groups of forces. The Whites had to put in order the troops, regroup them, pull up the rear, which gave the Reds time to gain time, bring up new forces, reserves, and begin counter-maneuvers.
In addition, the white command did not abandon the idea of joining with the Northern Front. At the time of the breakthrough of the Western army in the center, it would be reasonable to strengthen Khanzhin at the expense of the Siberian army. But they didn't. And the Cossack armies - Orenburg and Ural - got stuck in the south.
White propaganda poster "For Russia!" with the image of the Ural Cossack. White Eastern Front. 1919 year
Red actions
The Red High Command took emergency measures to rectify the situation in the east of the country. A wave of recruits from politically active, conscientious fighters, trade unionists and volunteer workers was sent to the Eastern Front. The strategic reserve of the main command was thrown there - the 2nd rifle division, two rifle brigades (the 10th rifle division from Vyatka and the 4th rifle division from Bryansk) and 22 thousand reinforcements. Also, the 35th Infantry Division, which was formed in Kazan, was at the disposal of the Eastern Front. The 5th division was also brought up here from the Vyatka direction.
This made it possible by mid-April 1919 to begin to change the balance of forces on the Eastern Front in favor of the Red Army. So, in the Perm and Sarapul directions, 33 thousand whites acted against 37 thousand soldiers of the Red Army. In the central direction, in the area of the front breakthrough, the whites still had a significant advantage - 40 thousand soldiers against 24 thousand red troops. That is, the numerical inequality in forces was significantly reduced, instead of the quadruple (more than 40 thousand versus 10 thousand), which was at the beginning of the operation, it decreased almost to double.
In the same period, the commander of the Southern Group of Red Armies (1st, Turkestan and 4th) Frunze carried out a number of regroupings of troops in order to strengthen his own position, create a reserve, strengthen the center of the Eastern Front, where the situation developed according to a catastrophic scenario and prepare a counterstrike of the Southern Group … As a result, Frunze's active actions became the preconditions for the future successful counteroffensive of the Red Army. The 4th Army was weakened by the withdrawal of the 25th Rifle Division (first to the reserve of the Army Group), but received only a defensive mission. The Turkestan army was supposed to keep the Orenburg region and maintain contact with Turkestan, so it was reinforced with one brigade of the 25th division. The other two brigades of the 25th division were transferred to Samara - a junction of routes to Ufa and Orenburg, strengthening the Ufa-Samara direction. In the future, the 4th and Turkestan armies were supposed to hold back the attacks of the Orenburg and Ural armies of the enemy.
A difficult situation was in the sector of the 1st Red Army. Its right wing (24th Infantry Division) in early April developed a successful offensive against Trinity. And the left wing to help the 5th Army sent three regiments to the Sterlitamak area and a brigade to Belebey. However, the enemy defeated a group of red troops in the Sterlitamak area, took it, and also preempted the brigade moved to Belebey, capturing it. The left flank of the 1st army was weakened, and the fall of Belebey created a threat to the rear of the 1st red army. It was necessary to stop the successfully developing offensive of the right flank of the 1st Army and quickly withdraw the 24th Division. While the remnants of the defeated 20th rifle division were holding back the enemy in the Belebey direction, the 24th division was transferred to this area by a forced march. The withdrawal of the 1st Army forced the Turkestan army to also carry out a partial regrouping back, and by April 18-20, its new front passed along the Aktyubinsk - Ilyinskaya - Vozdvizhenskaya line. And Frunze strengthened the position of his two armies by moving a strategic reserve to the Orenburg-Buzuluk region.
Thus, Frunze began preparing and accumulating reserves for the future counteroffensive of the Red Army on the Eastern Front. On April 7, the command of the Eastern Front outlined the concentration of the 1st Army in the Buzuluk, Sharlyk area to deliver a flank counterattack against the enemy advancing on Buguruslan and Samara. On April 9, the RVS of the Eastern Front expanded the operational capabilities of the Southern Group, including the 5th Army and giving Frunze complete freedom of action. The commander of the Southern group was supposed to regroup the troops and deliver a decisive blow to Kolchak's army before the end of the spring thaw or after it. On April 10, a directive of the RVS of the Eastern Front was issued, according to which the Southern Group was to strike to the north and defeat the enemy, who continued to press the 5th Red Army. At the same time, the Northern Group of Forces was formed as part of the 2nd and 3rd armies under the command of the commander of the 2nd army Shorin. She was given the task of defeating the Siberian army of Gaida. The dividing line between the Northern and Southern groups passed through Birsk and Chistopol, the mouth of the Kama.
Outcomes
As a result of the spring offensive of the Russian army of Kolchak, the Whites broke through the red Eastern Front in the center (the positions of the 5th Army), defeated the northern flank of the red Eastern Front (heavy losses of the 2nd Red Army); occupied vast territories, including the Izhevsk-Votkinsk region, Ufa and Bugulma, reached the approaches to Vyatka, Kazan, Samara, Orenburg. The Kolchakites captured a vast region with a population of more than 5 million people.
The Soviet high command had to take extraordinary measures to stabilize the situation in the east of the country and organize a counteroffensive. "Flight to the Volga" ("Run to the Volga") of the Russian army of Kolchak eased the position of Denikin's army in the South of Russia (VSYUR). The strategic reserves of the Red Army were transferred to the Eastern Front, as well as the main reinforcements, which helped the Denikinites to win a victory in the South of Russia and begin a campaign against Moscow.
In military-strategic terms, it is worth noting the successful choice of the strike site - the junction of the 2nd and 5th red armies, which was practically naked. White also took advantage of the weakness of the 5th Army - creating a quadruple superiority in forces in the direction of the main attack. However, the white command made a strategic mistake, delivering two main attacks - the Perm-Vyatka and Ufa-Samara directions. In addition, in the future, two shock fists sprayed their forces even more, advancing in several directions at once. Corps and divisions were losing contact, they could no longer establish interaction. As it moved forward, the vast expanses of Russia simply swallowed up the white army, it lost its striking power. The personnel backbone of the army was melting, Kolchak's army was struck by personnel shortages, and new peasant reinforcements constantly worsened the fighting qualities of the Russian army. At the same time, the strength and resistance of the Reds grew. In its ranks there was a talented, tough and intelligent commander, a brilliant commander Frunze, he was able to regroup the forces of the Southern Army Group, and began preparing a counterattack. In addition, one should not forget the natural conditions - the period of spring thaw, which significantly worsened the ability to move.
Kolchak during a trip to the front with the son of the regiment. 1919 g.
