Chapter 11 - Budyenny's last charge: Kursk, March - May 1920
The spring of 1920 was a rainy one. Until May 1920, Russia was covered in mud.
1 Consequently operations proceeded slowly. Even cavalry got stuck on the muddy roads. More than ever all sides had to rely on railway lines.
The strategic situation for the Southern White was highly promising: the road to Moscow lay wide open. But the Red Army was far from beaten. It had regrouped into three powerful armies: Stalin's Moscow Defense Army was a match for Shkuro's corps. Without reinforcements a direct attack was out of the question. In the Northern Ukraine, Trotzky had assembled a huge army that was threatening Konotop and Kursk. Finally, there was Tukhachevsky's army at Tzaritsyn.
On March 1st, 1920, it had suddenly left Tzaritsyn and was heading north. Denikin argued that this was an obvious trap designed to trick the Don Army into attacking. Tukhachevsky would turn around and then beat the Southern White in a defensive battle. Wrangel and Pokrovsky disagreed, though. They believed that Tukhachevsky would soon continue his march north and eventually attack Voronezh or Kursk. The White leaders decided to prepare for both eventualities: Denikin would postpone an attack on Tzaritsyn until Tukhachevsky had advanced further north; in the meantime, Pokrovsky would start an offensive east designed to deprive the Red Army of jumping boards towards either Kursk or Voronesh. Moreover this would also prevent Tukhachevsky from reinforceing Moscow.
The target was the small city of Lipetsk. Not only did it offer an excellent defensive position protected by the river Voroneszh but it was also an important railway hub connecting lines to Moscow, Tambov, Voronezh and Kursk. Currently the city was only defended by four Red infantry divisions under Voroshilov. Pokrovsky on the other hand had 57.000 men under his command at Kursk. On May 15th, his entire force boarded trains and steamed east. However, the last leg of the way had to be covered on foot. Thus it took Pokrovsky's men until May 27th before they reached Lipetsk. Although this gave Voroshilov ample warning, he barely manged to retreat in time.
In the meantime, the danger from the West had increased dramatically. A number of Red reinforcements had arrived at Gomel. The first scouting reports were met with utter disbelief. Over 100.000 Red soldiers commanded by Trotzky and Frunze, two of the best Communist commanders, this couldn't possibly be true.
Yet the reports were soon confirmed: Frunze's 2nd Shock Army alone far outnumbered any formation the White forces could muster in the area. It was supported by Gekker's cavalry corps as well as Remezov's infantry corps. A Red flood was about to spill into White territory.
However it was not yet clear where the Red Army would strike: Konotop and Kursk were both tempting targets: taking Konotop would open the way deeper into the Ukraine; Kiev would be within striking distance of the Red Army again. Kursk, on the other hand, was an even more tempting target. Through this city ran the only railway line connecting the White forces in the North with the bases and supply stocks in Southern Russia. Should Kursk fall, Wrangel and Shkuro would be isolated and threatened by starvation.
The White leadership reacted swiftly: several divisions were dispatched to Konotop and Kursk. But even more importantly, two of the most talented White generals were put in charge: Kutepov took over at Konotop while Mai-Maeivski left Orel to take command at Kursk.
2 In the meantime, White cavalry continued to provide a screen against the Red forces and tore up the railway line leaving Gomel towards the South-East.
Luckily, the feared attack didn't come in April. The mud forced the Red Army to postpone its offensive several times.
3 Consequently, both sides spent the month strengthening their forces. Slowly the situation, improved for the White armies. The total strength of both sides in the area was now balanced but the Red Army still had the advantage that its forces were concentrated. On their own, either Mai-Maeivski and Kutepov were outnumbered by 2:1.
When the rain finally stopped, the long expected showdown started with a clash further east: Since his March offensive against Lipetsk, Pokrovsky had intended to push Voroshilov further back. The plan was to destroy this small Red corps before it could be reinforced by Tukhachevsky and Egorov's 2nd Shock Army.
4 However just like the Red offensive, the White attack had been delayed by the rain.
5
On May 1st, Pokrovsky finally started his flanking march, his veterans crossed the river towards the south, then headed back north to attack Kozlov on May 8th. This time the Red Army stood and fought. The battle was brutal and casualties piled up on both sides. But at last the outnumbered Communists were chased from their trenches. 7.500 Red soldiers were left behind dead when Voroshilov finally retreated. Yet the White army had paid a steep price for this victory: 4.400 White soldiers remained on the battlefield as well.
The White soldiers should have little time to rest; only five days later a ferocious artillery bombardment hit them. Minutes later, the men of the 2nd Shock Army fell upon them. Pokrovsky hadn't bothered to dig trenches yet, his men were unorganized and badly outgunned - the 2nd Shoch Army had more than twice the amount of artillery. Still the Volunteers fought back stubbornly. Within the next hours 11.700 White and 8.600 Red soldiers died at Kozlov. Then Pokrovsky finally managed to disengage and retreat his battered troops south.
6
Once the slaughter at Kozlov had ended, Pokrovsky's corps was a shell of its former self. One third of its soldiers had died, the rest was utterly exhausted and in no shape to repulse another Red attack. Porkrovsky knew that his only chance was a hasty retreat to Voronezh. Hopefully his force would arrive there before Egorov could attack Shilling's small corps that had been left behind to guard the city. In order to get at least part of his troops to Voronezh in time, Pokrovsky dispatched his two cavalry divisions while he followed with the slower marching infantry.
7
Luckily the Red Army didn't pursue Pokrovsky. On May 30th, his entire force was back to the safety of Voronezh. Nevertheless Pokrovsky's campaign was a failure. Not only had he amassed an appalling amount of casualties but he had also forfeited control of the railways to Moscow and Kursk to the Red Army.
At this point a highly worrying scenario circulated amongst the White leaders: what if the two Red Shock Armies were on their way to rendez-vous at Kursk. It was already doubtful whether Mai-Maievski's army could withstand an attack by the 2nd Shock Army; if it could manage to coordinate its attack with the 3rd Shock Army, the defenders of Kursk were almost certainly doomed. Even worse, if Kursk were to fall, over 100.000 White soldiers operating to the north would be completely cut-off from reinforcements and supplies. Kursk had to be defended at all cost.
Fears further increased when news arrived that the 2nd Shock Army had left Gomel and was now moving east. White cavalry scouts were easily brushed aside by this monstrous force. With Porkrovsky's men exhausted, there were few reinforcements close enough to bolster Kursk's defense. A few armoured trains were dispatched from Voronezh, though. Moreover Fostikov brought a Cossack division north from the Don; however it had no chance of arriving at Kursk before the Reds. It would be invaluable in case a second attack occured, though.
Likewise, Kutepov's corps - the only other major force in the area - had no chance to beat Frunze on a march to Kursk. Besides, Kutepov couldn't be entirely sure that Frunze wouldn't turn around and attack Konotp rather than Kursk.
However Trotzky and Frunze didn't deviate from their plan. On May 24th, 107.500 Red soldiers arrived outside Kursk. Facing them were 75.500 Volunteers manning well prepared trenches. The two Communist commanders started to realize that the rain had delayed them for too long. Still they ordered their artillery to bombard the White positions. Perhaps once these had been softened up an attack could succeed. But not all Red commanders were this patient. Gekker and Budyenny were in command of the 1st Red Cavalry Army, a formation of almost 20.000 proud cavalrymen. Budyenny wasn't prepared to leave the glory to the infantry. His Konarmiya would prevail. Just as the Red artillery opened fire, Budyenny's cavalrymen charged the trenches of Kursk in full gallop. Agincourt or Balaklava were dwarfed by this suicidal cavalry attack. The concentrated fire of artillery, machineguns and rifles tore the Red cavalry to pieces before it could even get close to the White trenches. The few cavalrymen who miraculously managed to reach White positions were swiftly dealt with by bullets and bayonettes. When the butchery was finally over Budyenny's Konarmiya didn't exist anymore. Budyenny himself was but one amongst 20.600 fallen Red cavalrymen.
8 But White casualties were high as well. While they had fought off the Red cavalry the White soldiers had been under constant shelling by Red artillery. In the end, the defense of Kursk cost 9.900 White lifes.
Dishearted by the loss of their cavalry, Trotzky and Frunze abandonned the attack on Kursk. Budyenny's rash charge had made it clear that the 2nd Shock Army wasn't strong enough to take the city.
Although costly, the Battle of Kursk was a major triumph for Mai-Maeivski and the Southern White. The link north was secured. The threat of the two Red Shock Armies uniting at Kursk was averted.
Next chapter: Yet another nasty surprise; an army appears out of nowhere.
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1 From the early March turn until the early May turn the whether stayed rainy. Highlandcharge and I got both pretty annoyed by it. In retrospective, this probably favoured me since Highlandcharge's biggest counter-offensive of the war had to be post-poned several times which gave me time to bolster my defenses.
2 The increase in White combat power at Kursk and Konotop is just as much due to their better stats as it is to reinforcements. It makes a huge difference in combat power whether a leader of a stack has a defensive value of 1 or 4 (like Kutepov). Moreover these leader further improved their units with good special abilities.
3 The following is just speculation on my part: Highlandcharge planned to strike in April but he didn't want to lose too much cohesion in a protracted march through the muddy land and thus waited.
4 I think Highlandcharge named his armies this way. While it added a lot of flavour, I also took it as a hint as to his plans for these massive forces. I believe the 1st Shock Army must have been fighting on the Siberian front.
5 I didn't want to attack across the river, yet a flanking move wasn't possible within a single turn while it was raining.
6 A bad mistake on my part: with two railway connections blown up between Kozlov and Tukhachevsky's position, I was sure he couldn't get north within a single turn. But Highlandcharge left all armoured trains behind and somehow managed to rush his men north in time (forced march?). Even worse Pokrovsky's corps was still in offensive posture, as a consequence, it didn't profit from entrenchment and acted as attacker. A very fine move on Highlandcharge's part.
Alekseev appears in command during the second battle. This is not exactly true. He was present but he didn't have any troops under his command. If possible I try to have 2 two-star generals per corps. Here Alekssev was my backup, he has worse stats but more seniority than Pokrovsky therefore I had him move outside the corps to keep Pokrovsky in command. I timed it so that he would arrive at Kozlov only after the battle against Voroshilov since it is never a good idea to send a general into a battle on his own (high risk of him getting wounded). But I never expected a second battle to occur. Of course Alekseev promptly got injured.
7 I was pretty confident the cavalry would reach Voronezh before Egorov could. Besides with Pokrovsky's corps split into its pieces evasion values significantly increased. I really didn't want to wage another battle with these battered troops.
8 In part Highlandcharge's defeat at Kursk was bad luck: He had attacked with multiple corps (one was purely cavalry, the others infantry). It appears the engine actually simulated a cavalry charge during battle resolution: While all Red divisions dished out damage, the fire of the White forces was concentrated on Budyenny's cavalry. The Red Army suffered a total of 558 hits during this battle, 501 of these were sustained by Budyenny's Konarmiya. I think the reason for this is that only Budyenny engaged at close range while the rest of the Red forces remained at long distance. Highlandcharge probably could have averted this if he had concentrated all his divisions under Frunze rather than having multiple corps.