As the war ground on into the autumn, some armies became weary of the constant campaigning. Others seemed invigorated by the cooling winds and fought on desperate to hold on to their gains - or steal vital ground from others.
Movements for the Autumn of 1918
The Battle of Kroptkand
No sooner than Ist Guard Regiment, Ipatiev House, returned to Kroptkand they began preparing to march on Engelsk again. They had only just left the city when the scouts ahead of the column, returned to report the counter-revolutionaries were advancing their way!
Kombrig Mahat Mikhan ordered the first two battalions to block the road and maneuvered the rest of the army into a flanking position.
When the Guard of the White King realized the predicament they were in, they decided to push through in hopes of rushing forward to seize the town while it was unoccupied by the Bolsheviks!
The 32nd Cossack Cavalry Regiment succeeded in galloping past the Bolsheviks, but the infantry following on floundered under heavy fire from the bolsheviks.
The engagement bogged down into a firefight that no one had the will to keep up, weary as they were from months of campaigning.
The Tsarist Infantry gave up the field, but the Tsarist guns remained to cover their retreat - and deal as much damage to the Bolsheviks before leaving.
As the Bolsheviks were bearing down on their position, the Tsarist 245th Artillery Regiment hitched up to their limbers and galloped off as quick as they could.
The Siege of Borschka
The Canadians of the 14th Allied Eastern Expeditionary Army continued their march to the north and west and ended up at Borschka. The commander claimed to come to stabilize the region and investigate claims of include seizure and deprivation of property, assault, and murder against foreign interests in the region.
The Bolshevik garrison at Borschka were having none of these meddling foreigners and sent the delegation send into the town packing. When Lieutenant General Sir Percy Arbuthnot-Worcester-Gruntfuttock-Smythe sent the 3rd Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers in to show they meant business, the Bosheviks fired on them from the walls of the city and the Grenadiers were turned back.
The 14th Allied Eastern Expeditionary Army enveloped the town, digging nice, neat trenches all around and settled in for a siege! After about a month of skirmishes, pot-shots and sporadic bombardment. The winter winds began sweeping in from the north and with it came snow. The troops were miserable and spirits quickly sinking. To make matters worse, a bout of influenza tore through the ranks of the already understrength Highanders.
Eventually it was decided the force would have to give up the siege and retreat to winter quarters at Canuckand.
The Siege of Holopchi
The Chinese continued their siege of Holopchi well into Autumn.
In late September the Chinese attempted an assault of the cities walls. Under cover of darkness, a small group scaled the walls, over-powered the guards and flung the gates open for two battalions of infantry that had snuck into position right under the noses of the weary sentries.
The Chinese quickly overwhelmed the small garrison and seized control of the town!
The state of things at the end of Autumn 1918
Both Chinese and the Western Interventionists expanded their sphere of influence, The Bolsheviks remained remained, more or less, the same. Both Tsarists lost territory. It will be interesting to see where this goes in 1919 as both Bolsheviks now have others nipping at their territory...
ORANGE
- Commander of the Field Army: Lieutenant General Sir Percy Arbuthnot-Worcester-Gruntfuttock-Smythe
- Faction: Western Interventionists
- Army: 14th Allied Eastern Expeditionary Army
- Base of Operations: Canadar
- Other Cities: Canuckand, Molsensk, Stlojia
- Field Army:
- 3rd Battalion, Winnipeg Grenadiers (8)
- 5th Battalion, Cape Breton Highlanders (3)
- 2nd Battalion, Regina Rifles (11)
- 105th Canadian Fusiliers - Heavy Infantry Battalion (12)
- 8th Battalion, Canadian Mounted Rifles - Cavalry (11)
- 37th Field Artillery (14)
YELLOW
- Commander of the Field Army: Hedwig Markus von Eggenberg, Margrave of Grosswardein
- Faction: Tsarist
- Army: East Asia Cavalry Division
- Base of Operations: Gura
- Other Cities: Driutsek
- Field Army:
- 1st Battalion, 337th Infantry Regiment (Heavy) (8)
- 2nd Battalion, 337th Infantry Regiment (6)
- 1st Battalion, 369th Infantry Regiment (6)
- 2nd Battalion, 369th Infantry Regiment (5)
- Mongolian Cavalry (1)
- 38th Hussars Cavalry (4)
GREEN
- Commander of the Field Army: Altan Baatar Kahn
- Faction: Warlord Chinese
- Army: The Red Horde
- Base of Operations: Lung-Hu
- Other Cities: Wurumchi, Sui-Pei, Bashkent
- Field Army:
- Heavy Infantry Battalion (12)
- Infantry Battalion (13)
- Infantry Battalion (7)
- Infantry Battalion (11)
- Cavalry (2)
- Artillery (12)
LIGHT BLUE
- Commander of the Field Army: Win-Cao Lo-Fat, The Most Illustrious Beacon of Celestial Light and Commander of the Arm of Earthly Might
- Faction: Warlord Chinese
- Army: The Illustrious Arm of the Nine Illuminated Terrestrial Immortals
- Base of Operations: Wei-Li
- Other Cities: Ching-Ho, Ulaan-Goom, Holopchi
- Field Army:
- 1st Heavy Infantry Battalion (7)
- 2nd Infantry Battalion (11)
- 3rd Infantry Battalion (10)
- 4th Infantry Battalion (11)
- Cavalry Regiment (10)
- Artillery Regiment (8)
DARK BLUE
- Commander of the Field Army: Kombrig Mahat Mikhan
- Faction: Bolshevik
- Army: Ist Guard Regiment, Ipatiev House
- Base of Operations: Kubassa
- Other Cities: Kropotkand, Pyrohy,
- Field Army:
- 1st Infantry Battalion (Heavy )(11)
- 2nd Infantry Battalion (8)
- 3rd Infantry Battalion (5)
- 4th Infantry Battalion (8)
- 5th Cavalry Regiment (10)
- 6th Artillery Regiment (6)
PURPLE
- Commander of the Field Army: Baron Yevgeny Lytton
- Faction: Tsarist
- Army: Gvardiya Belykh Koroley (Guard of the White King’s)
- Base of Operations: Bakunin
- Other Cities: Engelsk
- Field Army:
- 1st Battalion, 437th Infantry Regiment (Heavy) (8)
- 2nd Battalion, 437th Infantry Regiment (6)
- 1st Battalion, 231st Infantry Regiment (5)
- 2nd Battalion, 231st Infantry Regiment (6)
- 32nd Cossack Cavalry Regiment (10)
- 245th Artillery Regiment(11)
RED (of course)
- Commander of the Field Army: Commissar-General Lev (Leon) Davidovitch Runstein
- Faction: Bolshevik
- Army: Первый Бабушка Армейский корпус (Ist Babushka Army Corps)
- Base of Operations: Baboushka
- Other Cities: Borschka, Vlodkask
- Field Army:
- 1st Transuralian Peoples Infantry Battalion (Heavy) (4)
- 2nd Transuralian Peoples Battalion (8)
- 3rd Transuralian Peoples Battalion (8)
- 4th Transuralian Peoples Battalion (10)
- 1st Babushka Cavalry Regiment (5)
- 1st Borschka Artillery Regiment (10)
Posts
Cheers!
ReplyDelete