Here is a little more on the affair:
MARIINSK 25 May 1918
Our forces in Mariinsk consisted of 26 officers, 413 men, 119 rifles, 2 Kolt machine
guns and 3 light machine guns. The incoming Czechoslovak artillery train had 559 men and
47 rifles, but it did not have any machine guns or guns. The Bolshevik train standing at the
station in Mariinsk had approximately 300 men and 2 guns. Moreover, there was an unknown
force garrison in the town. After the secret instructions were given, our volunteers started to
act as if they had started training. They were armed mostly with sticks, shovels and axes.
Following the signal, the Bolshevik train standing by was disarmed and right after that the
whole town was occupied. The battle took place on 25 May and it lasted from 14:00 to 17:00.
It brought us the following booty: 2 guns, more than a hundred rifles with ammunition and 12
several hundred hand grenades; this was simply everything we had missed. However, the
Bolshevik Headquarters had managed to warn the surrounding Bolshevik companies before
they fled away. These companies started to assemble around the town of Mariinsk and,
therefore, our Mariinsk garrison was encircled. The Bolshevik forces were superior because
only in the east there were about 800 Bolsheviks with 4 cannons and the men force in the west
could not even be found out.
»Mariinsk is the town with to 30,000 inhabitants and it is known as the granary for the
large territory of Siberia.This battle was the first military operation of Tatranský Rifle
Regiment against Bolshevik troops under the command of Capt Kadlec. Occupation of the
town and the station was then reported to the regiment commander Capt Gajda: Mariinsk,
596, 25., 17 hours. Station Novonikolayevsk. To commander of the 7 Czechoslovak Regiment
Capt Gajda. Ešelon Koudelka is standing at the station in Mariinsk. Everything is O.K. Capt
Kadlec: which meant – we have seized the station in Mariinsk.«
NOVONIKOLAYEVSK 25 May 1918
Our garrison in Novonikolayevsk consisting of 1,478 men with 610 rifles, 5 heavy
machine guns and 7 light machine guns seized the station as well as the town at night from 25
May to 26 May. The battle did not last long but was intense. However, the booty was bigger
than in Mariinsk: 1,620 rifles, 2 machine guns and some explosives. The Bolsheviks ran away
toward Barnaul and Tajga, where they started to organize again. The 6th Czechoslovak
Regiment was deployed west of Novonikolayevsk and the Bolsheviks were east of Mariinsk;
therefore the main task was to join the group commanded by Capt Kadlec in Mariinsk. After
the reencounter at Jurg and Litvonov, the station Taiga was seized and the Soviet local
government of Tomsk had fled away. When pursuing the Bolsheviks further toward the east,
our troops met with the unit in Mariinsk, which was engaged in heavy battles for its existence.
These were the battles against huge superior forces encircling Mariinsk, without any
communication and messages about our nearest units.
On 2 June, the Bolshevik delegation and the members of the American Mercantile
Agency came to Mariinsk from Irkutsk and they asked our soldiers to hand in all the weapons.
However, they did not succeed and so they decided to talk to Capt Gajda who refused them
even more vehemently. They only succeeded to sign the truce until 16 June because our
troops needed it as well. However, the Bolsheviks were removing their reserves closer and
closer and they were getting ready for a new battle.
»As it has been already mentioned, the town of Novonikolayevsk situated west of
Mariinsk was the command post of the regiment commander Capt Gajda. After the station in
Mariinsk, situated east of Novonikolayevsk, had been seized by units of the 7th Regiment, the
Bolsheviks, whose position was between these two stations, ended up in the grip of Capt
Kadlec and Capt Gajda. That is why they wanted to make a sudden attack, but it was just an
attempt to get away which was unsuccessful.«
SECOND BATTLE AT MARIINSK
When the truce ended, our troops left Mariinsk and continued toward the east; on 17
June, the gripping circle east of Mariinsk was broken. The Bolsheviks ended up with losses of
approximately 600 prisoners of wars, about 300 men and no one ever found out how many
men were buried in the inaccessible taiga. The Russian Bolsheviks gave up easily, but the
German and Hungarian Bolsheviks resisted until the end of the fight.
»The second battle at Mariinsk meant the utter defeat of Bolshevik troops encircling
the town and, consequently, it meant also the end of “Mariinsk Front“. This happened after
several negotiations with Bolsheviks and a few protractions when negotiating the truce.
However, such a truce with Bolshevik conditions and terms was unacceptable for the
Czechoslovak forces. Nonetheless, the cease-fire allowed the Czechoslovak soldiers enough
time to rearrange the forces. Then Capt. Gajda issued an order to conduct an operation
aimed at breaking through the Mariinsk circle at the direction of Krasnoyarsk.«
BARABINSK, KABAKLY, KOLCUGINO, BARNAUL
Meanwhile, the Novonikolayevsk group came to help the 6th Regiment and, on 6 June,
it conquered the Bolsheviks at Barabinsk and Kabakly, and on the other side against Barnaul
and on the Kolcugino railway. In these places, however, we received help from the weak but
still good Russian volunteer anti-Bolshevik military units. With help of these units out troops
managed to seize Cerepanovo on 5 June and later, on 15 June, Barnaul was occupied after
heavy fighting. Russian volunteers continued pursuing Bolsheviks toward Semipalatinsk and
our troops seized Biysk. At the battle near Kolcugino, the Bolshevik troops were liquidated on
3 and 4 June.
»After the battle at Novonikolayevsk and Mariinsk, it was necessary to secure our
position for the further advance toward the east. Because of this, the Czechoslovak unit was
spread in several sides: to the east towards Mariinsk following the Kolcugino railway track,
to the west towards Barnaul situated on the left bank of the Ob River. Since there was an
imminent danger of enveloping attack, the town of Barabinks was seized on 6 June, and the
enemy was forced out from Kabakla. As a result of this operation, our unit joined another
group of the 7th regiment and, consequently, the railway track from Omsk to Marriinsk was
unblocked.«
http://www.tatranci.sk/en/index.php?subory=2free download of
TATRANCI – a short history of 7. Tatranský Regiment.
The amazing story about the formation of cs. legions in Russia.
16 September 2008, 08:02:13 AM
