What was the South-Eastern Front of the Red Army? What kind of hostilities took place in this direction? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article. It is known that the South-Eastern Front was a strategic task force of the Red Army during the Civil War.
Description
The front we are considering was founded by the order of the Commander-in-Chief from the special group of the Southern Font V. I. Shorinav in 1919, namely on September 30th. Then it was renamed the Caucasian Front (by decree of the Revolutionary Military Council in 1920, January 16). The front headquarters was in Saratov.
Composition
As part of the South-Eastern Front were:
- 9 and 10th armies;
- 8th Army (since January 10, 1920);
- 11th military association (since October 14, 1919);
- reserve army (from 1919 to 1920);
- 1st Cavalry Squad (since January 10, 1920);
- military Volga-Caspian flotilla (since October 14, 1919);
- Penza SD.
Fighting
Before the South-Eastern Front was placedthe task is to break Denikin's formations in the Tsaritsyno and Novocherkassk directions, to occupy the Don region. In October 1919, on the Khoper River, units of the front fought fortification battles against the cavalry of Mamontov in the area of the villages of Ilovlinskaya, Medveditskaya and the city of Kamyshin.
The strategic offensive was carried out jointly with the Southern Front from November 1919: in November-December, the Khoper-Don operation was carried out, the Khoper River was forced, Kalach, Novokhopersk and Uryupinskaya were occupied. And on January 3, 1920, after several battles, Tsaritsyn was recaptured.
During the Novocherkassk-Rostov operation, units of the South-Eastern Front destroyed the Don Army and occupied Novocherkassk on January 7, 1920.
Command staff
It is known that the front we studied had the following command staff:
- the commander was V. I. Shorin (from September 30, 1919 to January 16, 1920);
- S. I. Gusev, V. A. Trifonov and I. T. Smilga were members of the Revolutionary Military Council (since December 18, 1919);
- heads of the headquarters - F. M. Afanasyev (1919-1920), S. A. Pugachev (January 4-16, 1920).
Arc
During the Civil War, the South-Eastern Front coped with the assigned tasks very quickly. When the units of the Southern Front were creating plans of operations and preparing for a counteroffensive, Denikin's men still stubbornly continued to move forward. They were intoxicated with previous victories and rushed uncontrollably to Tula, Orel and Moscow.
In the south, by October 10, 1919, the front looked like a huge arc with a length of more than 1130 km. Its ends rested on the Dnieper and the mouth of the Volga, and the top was aimed at Moscow. The enemy concentrated almost all his forces on this gigantic front.
In the Tsaritsyn area in front of the South-Eastern Front and to the south-east of it, the Caucasian army of Wrangel was stationed. Behind his right flank, in the direction of Astrakhan, was a unit of General Dratsenko from the brigade of the White Guard Army of the North Caucasus.
From the river Ilovlya (Voronezh) north-west of the Caucasian army, the front was occupied by the Don army of Sidorin. On the central course from Voronezh, almost to Chernigov, the volunteer army of General Mai-Maevsky advanced. To the south-west of it, in the region of Kyiv and Bakhmach, the so-called divisions of the Kyiv region of General Dragomir operated. Schilling's team operated in Togobochnaya Ukraine.
Denikins
It is known that Denikin's troops were advancing, concentrating their troops in separate detachments on the most important areas. In doing so, they were able to achieve significant success. But Denikin's command felt the lack of reserves more and more. After all, it was carried away by the seizure of territory and scattered its troops over an impressive space.
The offensive was carried out with great difficulty. The stubborn resistance of the Soviet soldiers and the bloody battles for almost every village led to colossal losses that there was nothing to make up for. The nearest operational reserves were used up, and the influx of reinforcements from the depths almost stopped. Flameuprisings of workers and guerrilla warfare blazed in the rear. It not only absorbed all resources, but also forced more and more units to withdraw from the front.
Besides, Denikin's army ceased to be class homogeneous. After all, the forced mobilization of Cossacks and peasants, the forcible enrollment of captured soldiers of the Red Army into units had a strong influence. The sharpened class differences began to reflect on the combat capability of Denikin's men.
Until recently, the martial law of the counter-revolution of the South seemed very strong. Now it showed signs of an approaching crisis. However, only a major defeat caused by a powerful blow from the Red Army could turn this crisis into a catastrophe. In the meantime, Denikin's command did not consider losses and demanded that the troops advance on Moscow.
Caucasus Front
So, we have already talked about what the Red Army created the South-Eastern Front to successfully confront the enemy. And what was the Caucasian Front, created by decree of the Revolutionary Military Council, like? He was faced with the task of completing the liquidation of the North Caucasian division of Denikin's troops and the liberation of the Caucasus. The headquarters of this front was in Millerovo, and then in Rostov-on-Don.
Composition of the Caucasian Front
This front included:
- 8th military association (1920);
- 9th Army (from 1920 to 1921);
- 10th Tverskoe (1920);
- 10th Terek-Dagestan army (in 1921);
- 11th military formation(from 1920 to 1921);
- 1st Cavalry Brigade (1920);
- reserve troops (from September to December 1920);
- Expeditionary Naval Division (August to September, November to December 1920);
- Yeisky and Ekaterinodar fortified areas;
- 2nd Aviation Regiment;
- Tersko-Dagestan (from January to March 1921) and Terek (from October to November 1920) groups of troops;
- The Caucasian segment of the coastal defense of the Azov and Black Seas was operationally subordinate to the front.
Fighting
In 1920, in January and February, the fighters of the Caucasian Front carried out the Don-Manych campaign. During the 2nd and 3rd phases of the North Caucasian campaign, they occupied the North Caucasus, defeating Denikin's troops and capturing 330 guns, more than 100 thousand prisoners, over 500 machine guns and more.
In August-September, the troops of the Caucasian Front liquidated the Ulagaevsky landing of the White Guards in the Kuban. During the Tiflis, Baku, Kutaisi, Erivan and Batumi operations of the Caucasian Front (1920-1921), Soviet power was introduced in Transcaucasia.
In 1921, on May 29, the front was liquidated, and its institutions and troops were transferred to the Military North Caucasus District and the Caucasian Separate Army.
Politburo
The Southern Front was recognized by the decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Party, which appeared on October 15, 1919, as the most important front of the Soviet Republic. That is why the previously adopted plan to fight Denikin had to change. It was planned to applya basic strike on Denikin's army not through the Don region by the troops of the South-Eastern Front, but by units of the Southern Front in its central zone.
The decision of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the party on the short-term transition of the front we are considering to defense allowed the basic part of march reinforcements to be sent to the Southern Front. In October-November, he was able to get about 38 thousand fighters. Also on October 17, the 40th rifle division, formed from the workers of the Bogucharsky district and famous for its dedication, was transferred from the structure of the South-Eastern Front to the 8th association. Thanks to this influx of reinforcements, it was possible to consolidate not only the new achievements that were planned in the Oryol region, but also to launch a large counteroffensive on the entire Southern Front.
The execution of instructions on the Southern Front personally by V. I. Lenin and the Central Committee of the party established the strictest supervision. V. I. Lenin noted that one should not stop there, that against Denikin it is necessary to continuously increase the force of blows.
V. I. Lenin went into all the details that were connected with the situation on the South-Eastern and Southern fronts. He constantly followed the process of formation of new formations and units, was interested in the process of strengthening the defense of Moscow and Tula. It is known that V. I. Lenin personally followed the sending of certain personnel officers to the front.
