Siege of Perekop (1920)

Siege of Perekop
Part of the Southern Front of the Russian Civil War
A map of the Soviet plan for the Perekop–Çonğar operation
Date 7-17 November 1920 Location Isthmus of Perekop and the Sıvaş, Crimea, South Russia 46°09′N 33°41′E Result Soviet victory End of the Southern Front. Bolshevik control established on the Crimean Peninsula. Dissolution of the Government of South Russia. Beginning of hostilities between the Bolsheviks and the Makhnovshchina.
Belligerents
South Russia	Russian SFSR Ukrainian SSR Makhnovshchina
Commanders and leaders
Pyotr Wrangel Vladimir Vitkovsky Alexander Kutepov Mikhail Fostikov Ivan Barbovich	Mikhail Frunze August Kork Filipp Mironov Semyon Budyonny Vasily Blyukher Simon Karetnik
Units involved
Russian Army	Red Army 1st Cavalry Army 2nd Cavalry Army 4th Army 6th Army 13th Army Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine
Strength
Russian Army 41,000 bayonets and sabers 213 artillery cannons 1,663 machine guns 45 tanks and armored vehicles 14 armored trains 42 aircraft	Southern Front 146,400 bayonets 40,200 sabers 985 artillery cannons 4,435 machine guns 57 armored vehicles 17 armored trains 45 aircraft Karetnik Detachment 1,000 infantry 700 cavalry 6 artillery cannons 191 machine guns
Casualties and losses
2,000	10,000

The siege of Perekop, also known as the Perekop-Çonğar Operation, was the final battle of the Southern Front in the Russian Civil War from 7 to 17 November 1920. The White movement's stronghold on the Crimean Peninsula was protected by the Çonğar fortification system along the strategic Isthmus of Perekop and the Sıvaş, from which the Crimean Corps under General Yakov Slashchov repelled several Red Army invasion attempts in early 1920. The Southern Front of the Red Army and the Revolutionary Insurgent Army of Ukraine, under the command of Mikhail Frunze, launched an offensive on Crimea with an invasion force four-times larger than the defenders, the Russian Army under the command of General Pyotr Wrangel. Despite suffering heavy losses, the Reds broke through the fortifications, and the Whites were forced into retreat southwards. Following their defeat at the siege of Perekop, the Whites evacuated from the Crimea, dissolving the Army of Wrangel and ending the Southern Front in Bolshevik victory.

About 50 years later, students from Moscow created a monument of remembrance for the battle.

Fortifications

The construction of fortifications on the Isthmus of Perekop began in the autumn of 1919. The Russian Army defense system consisted of two lines: Or Qapı (its basis was the section of the Turkish Wall with a total length of 11 km, it included an old Tatar ditch up to 10 meters deep and wide, wire fences in 3-5 rows and three lines of trenches) and Yañı Qapı (20–25 km south of the first line, from several lines of trenches covered with barbed wire).

There were also fortifications to strengthen the Çonğar Peninsular and the Arabat Spit - up to 5-6 lines of trenches and trenches with barbed wire. The Çuvaş Peninsula was the only place that had relatively weakly defenses, with only one line of trenches and barbed wire.

Approximately 10,000 Russian Army soldiers defended Or Qapı and Yañı Qapı, while 3,000 defended the Sıvaş, the Çonğar Strait and the Arabat Spit. Over 14,000 reserves were also located in the rear of Yañı Qapı.

Planning

Initially, Mikhail Frunze had planned to deliver the main blow toward Çonğar but due to the ice holding the Azov Flotilla back in Taganrog, the main attack was transferred on toward Perekop. The assault on Perekop was executed by the 6th Army, 1st Cavalry Army and 2nd Cavalry Army. Just before the operation began, 8,000 members of the Communist Party and 2,500 members of the Young Communist League arrived as reinforcements to the Red Army.

The attack by units of the 1st Cavalry Army from Henichesk, through the Arabat Spit to Feodosia, was suppressed by the fire of Wrangel's fleet, part of which approached Henichesk, so it was decided to conduct an auxiliary strike on Çonğar and Arabat (by the forces of the 4th Army and the 3rd Cavalry Corps).

Battle

Deployment and crossing the Sıvaş

Nikolay Samokish "The Red Army Crossing the Sıvaş" (1935).

The Reds began the operation to capture Crimea on 3 November 1920, with another unsuccessful frontal attack on the Perekop fortifications.

Therefore, it was decided to bypass Perekop along the Sıvaş. On 5 November, the wind caught water in the Sıvaş and it was decided to wait for it to get shallower. And on the night of 8 November 1920, the shock group of the 6th Army (the 15th, 51st and 52nd divisions, a cavalry group, in total about 20,000 bayonets and sabers with 36 artillery cannons), crossed the 7-kilometer water obstacle in adverse weather conditions (strong winds and minus 11-12 degrees Celsius). And on the afternoon of 8 November, the Reds, with overwhelming numerical superiority, successfully broke the defense of General Mikhail Fostikov's brigade, which was defending the Kuban peninsula, numbering only 1,500 bayonets with 12 artillery cannons. The Red Army soldiers captured the Çuvaş Peninsula and began to move to the rear of the White positions at Perekop.

Assault on the Turkish Wall

At the same time, the 51st Rifle Division (4 brigades of 3 regiments each - more than 30,000 soldiers) launched a frontal attack on the Turkish Wall. In order to concentrate the attacking forces, the division was reorganized into six waves: the first was made up of grenade launchers and wire cutters, the second - attack aircraft; the third was a reserve; the fourth - "cleaners", and the fifth and sixth - the reserve. The attack was not successful. The Red shock fire brigade attacked, according to some reports, in red shirts, and during the assault they lost half of their men.

The Turkish Wall was occupied only by two Kornilov shock regiments (1000 bayonets), and the third regiment stood with the front to the east, to Sıvaş, to guard against a flanking maneuver. The Kornilov division had just entered this line of defense, having replaced 2AK units. Being under artillery fire behind the crest of the rampart, which saved the personnel from losses, at the beginning of the attack, the Kornilovites returned to the trenches and shot the attacking enemy from point-blank with machine guns. The Red Army soldiers were only able to reach the ditch braided with barbed wire in front of the rampart and lay down "under the destructive machine-gun and artillery fire", having suffered losses of more than 50%. As Soviet historians, such as Vladimir Triandafillov, later admitted, the attack on the Turkish Wall that day ended in complete failure.

On the other side of the trenches, during the battle on 8 November 1920, the 2nd Kornilov shock regiment, for example, saw 8 people killed and 40 wounded. 35 horses were killed. All wounds were from artillery fire.

On the morning of 8 November, units of the red landing launched an offensive from the Chukhonsky Peninsula to the town of Ermeni Bazar, in the rear of the defense of the Turkish Wall. But they could not advance further to Perekop due to a lack of cavalry. The Makhnovist detachment under Ataman Simon Karetnik and units of the 7th Cavalry Division were sent to rescue the landing party.

The Drozdov division from Ermeni Bazar and the Markov division from Yañı Qapı counterattacked, trying to isolate and defeat the red landing, but to no avail. The red units initially retreated, but, having overwhelming superiority, again continued their offensive in the rear of the Perekop positions.

On 9 November 1920, under the threat of encirclement, the Kornilov Shock Division left the Turkish Wall by one in the morning and retreated to their positions at Yañı Qapı. The night was dark and starless. In the rearguard of the division, the battalion of Colonel Troshin was left, which by one o'clock also left the Turkish Wall.

But, according to Soviet historiography, at 03:30 on 9 November 1920, with a repeated attack, simultaneously with a flanking maneuver, the 51st Rifle Division captured the positions at Or Qapı and continued the attack on the positions at Yañı Qapı. Other historians admit that the withdrawal of the White units was only discovered by the Red units on the morning of 9 November.

Assault on the Yañı Qapı positions

A change in the direction of the wind caused an increase in the water level in the Sıvaş, which threatened cutting off the troops on the Çuvaş Peninsula from the main forces of the Red Army. However, on 9 November, the fords were restored by mobilized residents from the villages of Volodymyrivka and Stroganivka.

By 15:00 on 9 November, the red units reached the positions at Yañı Qapı. There are several lakes in this place, and therefore the fighting began in narrow defiles between them. All attacks by the Red Army that day were repulsed.

On 10 November, the 15th and 52nd divisions of the Red Army broke through the first line of defensive positions, but were counterattacked and thrown back almost to the Çuvaş Peninsula, and the numerous 51st division, reinforced by the Latvian division, held their positions. By evening, a paradoxical situation had developed, when the opponents on the left flanks mutually threatened each other with encirclement.

Nikolay Samokish "Red Cavalry at Perekop".

On 10-11 November 1920, in the area of Yañı Qapı and Karpova Balka, the cavalry corps of General Ivan Barbovich (4,000 sabers, 150 machine guns, 30 cannons, 5 armored cars) counterattacked the Makhnovists under the command of Simon Karetnik and the forces of the 2nd Cavalry Army. General Wrangel had already given the order to evacuate, but the cavalry was thrown into battle so that the infantry units could retreat.

The White Cavalry managed to push back the 15th and 52nd divisions of the Reds from Yañı Qapı to the Çuvaş Peninsula, defeat the 7th and 16th cavalry divisions, threatening the rear of the troops that had broken through Or Qapı.

But Barbovich’s cavalry ran into the Makhnovist cavalry group, which, imitating a retreat, deployed a line of tachanki with 150 machine guns in front of the advancing White cavalry and mowed them down, forcing them to turn back. After that, the Makhnovist cavalrymen and the 2nd Cavalry Army began to cut down the retreating Whites. At the same time, on the opposite sector of the front (near the Karkinit Bay of the Black Sea), the 51st division was able to capture two lines of trenches at Yañı Qapı.

On 11 November, the attacks of the red units continued and were finally able to break through the entire line of the Yañı Qapı fortifications. The entrance to Crimea was open. On the same day, the Çonğar fortifications were also broken through by the red units. The attackers of the 266th and 267th regiments of the Red Army were almost completely wiped out, but captured the area of the village of Avuz Qırq.

Persecution and occupation of the cities of Crimea

Main article: Evacuation of the Crimea

By 12 November 1920, the Red Army had captured Yañı Qapı, forcing the white troops into a retreat. Mikhail Frunze gave his troops a day’s notice (to put their units in order) and sent a telegram to Pyotr Wrangel suggesting that he capitulate, but no answer was received. White troops hastily retreated to the ports (Kezlev, Aqyár, Yalta, Kefe and Keriç), where they were loaded onto ships for evacuation. Unlike the disastrous evacuations of Odesa and Chəməz, it was planned and carried out in a relatively organized manner.

Some generals and politicians offered to give the last battle to the Red Army, but Alexander Kutepov responded with a short answer: "Putting the army in the field is not a tricky business".

On 13 November the Red Army occupied Aqmescit. By 15 November, the Red Army had also occupied Aqyár and Kefe. The White Guards were able to break away from the Red Army and boarding the evacuation ships took place without shelling. When the last ships had already moved away from the moorings, suddenly one destroyer rushed back to the port - they had forgotten the battalion of the Markov regiment guarding the port. They quickly landed it, and the ship returned to the squadron. On 16 November, the Red Army occupied Keriç and, on 17 November, it occupied Yalta.

The result of the Perekop-Çonğar operation was the breakthrough of the Red Army into the territory of Crimea, the evacuation of the Russian Army and part of the civilian population abroad, and the establishment of Soviet power in Crimea. The last major front of the Civil War was liquidated. Soviet historiography recognized that the victory in this operation was achieved due to the concentration of superior forces and means on the main directions of the offensive.

In popular culture

• Two Comrades Were Serving - 1968 Soviet film, which takes place during the Perekop-Çonğar Operation.
• Marshal of the Revolution - 1978 Soviet biopic about the Southern Front commander Mikhail Frunze, covering the events from 21 September to 16 November 1920 (the fighting in the south of the left-bank Ukraine, assault of Perekop and forcing the Sıvaş, the defeat of Baron Wrangel's army in Crimea).
• The Sun of the Dead - 1923 novel by Ivan Shmelyov focusing on the consequences of the capture of Crimea by the Red Army.
• Sumy Hussars 1651–1951 (Buenos Aires, 1954), a historical overview written by White émigrés, describes the collapse of the 1st Sumy Hussar Regiment's main squadron restored in the Volunteer Army. On 13 November [O.S. 30 October] 1920, the squadron's remnants surrendered to the Bolsheviks near the village of Mamut. A part of the regiment officers committed suicide, others were shot on the spot.

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