The long and short of it was that this was a Bolshevik balls up of monumental proportions. They deployed too late, spent too much time farting about, and didnt have a decisive plan. The allies, though seriously outnumbered at the start, were able to use the time to get the Brits involved, whose numbers and quality counted. I will leave it to the journal of the victor, The Germans, to tell the whole sorry story. Words by Cameron 'Von Stauffenberg' Thomson. Pics by Iain 'V.I.' Blackwood. Enjoy!
Fort Schwartz Samstag.The Diary of Major Gerhardt Plzen.
I received my orders at our base in Potsdam, having only just received my commission. I was being posted to Bukhara to join the legendary Claus Von Stauffenberg expedition in support of the fledgling Bukharin state. Reports had been coming in for two years now on the successful progress of his mission in support of the Bukharins – I was now to be part of this operation, helping to recover our national pride and restore our proper place in the world order.
Frau Plzen was none too pleased about our move away from Potsdam Society and to help soften the separation I had gained approval for my wife’s mother, Frau Blucher, to accompany us on our posting.
We departed Potsdam on a cold October morning aboard one of the many re-supply zeppelins that now ply a constant path between Germany and Bukhara, landing at the port of Krasnavodsk less than 2 days later in the fierce sunlight and burning heat that would become home for the foreseeable future.
We were met at the docking port by Schütze Franz Schultz, an affable young solider who had been here since the start of this mission, he would drive us to our new home, Fort Schwartz Samstag. It took several hours to offload our prodigious quantity of luggage (the majority being Frau Blucher’s) and off we went from the port through the town of Krasnavodsk, this busy run-down port town had seen better days and in our wake we were “escorted” by a mass of urchins running beside our car intent on maximising their amusement at the strange Europeans struggling with the extreme heat.
We finally reached our new home – Fort Schwartz Samstag – the town looked palatial by comparison and the expression on my wife’s face told the whole story, this combined with the fort’s strange name only compounded our feelings of apprehension.
The Frau's survey their new home....
In the days that followed Frau Plzen established our new home in the Fort Commandant’s quarters whilst I set about getting to grips with my new command, which stretched from the fort, through the town and finishing at our facilities area on the coast. To protect this area my command consisted of 3 companies of infantry, most recuperating from injuries sustained in the furtherance of the mission, with some additional support elements and a handful of un-reliable White Russian units commanded by a Col. Orvitz.
Dodgy White defenders....
For weeks now we had been receiving unconfirmed reports of unrest to the south, north and east of our positions, just yesterday reports started coming in of masses of Red troops to the south east – I placed the troops on alert, instructed Frau Plzen and Frau Blucher not to leave the fort and initiated patrols in an attempt to locate the enemy activity - without success, the troops would be on stand-to again tonight.
The sun is up – yet again – and large dust clouds can now be seen off to the south east and to our north. 1st Ersatz Company in the fort is stood to, Frau Plzen and Frau Blucher are directed to stay within the Fort and I instruct Private Schultz to drive me to Kraznavodsk. The White units are manning the walls with 2nd Ersatz Company protecting the Embassy compound and 3rd Ersatz Company guarding the facilities area. I instruct the entrained Engineer Company to detrain and set up a defensive perimeter around the station area. I head for the radio station to alert Graf Stauffenberg and make calls for assistance, then back to our defensive perimeter overlooking the rail track. Now we wait.
We don’t have long – masses of Red troops appear south of the railway line streaming towards the fort and the town. I need to clear our fields of fire and slow down the Reds so I instruct Herr Flik the engineer to move his train down the line - this has the unforeseen benefit of blocking the Reds attempting to cross the tracks. We open fire and start knocking down the odds. To the north appear our Bukharin allies charging headlong into the fray and reinforcing Fort Schwartz Samstag, at their head Mustafa Kurtz who takes an instant shine to Frau Blucher.
Red confusion (1)
As if the situation was not dire enough a Red flotilla approaches from the west towards the harbour. Surprisingly they detour to the offshore prison beyond the harbour and promptly massacre the guards and inmates. We open fire and hit their gunboat only to see it hit again and sunk by a British vessel off to the north as it heads for the shore on the north side of the town. The panicking Reds hastily board their barge and make for the harbour, again we fire and strike the barge which is then attacked by a British bomber flying low in from the sea, the pilot achieves a direct hit sending the barge and all bar one of its occupants to the bottom. The remaining sailor is tracked to the shore where he is eventually dispatched by fire from 3rd Ersatz Company. To the east of the town our Bukharin allies are giving the Reds a hard time in spite of the arrival of a Red armoured train. Meanwhile in the town the Whites decide that they would rather be elsewhere and desert their positions – fortunately for us Unteroffizier Kauffmann leads 2nd Ersatz Company to plug the gap, their position in turn being filled by the Engineer Company under the command of Unteroffizier Weiss.
To the east at the fort the action now turns to the air with a Red ground attack aircraft taking on a lone Bukharin reconnaissance aircraft which promptly engages and shoots him from the skies – the pilot is subsequently arrested by the brave Bukharins. A second Red aircraft tackles and shoots down the gallant reconnaissance aircraft which even in death succeeds in destroying the recently arrived Red train forcing its contents to detrain. With the Reds crossing the railway line pressure increased on 1st Ersatz Company in the fort and it was during one of these wave attacks that we took our first casualty – shot through the head by a sniper whilst laying down withering light machinegun fire on the onrushing Reds, more losses were to follow in the hours ahead.
My brave troops continue to grind down the Reds who are by now at the walls of the town, albeit in far fewer numbers and far less keen to pursue their attack. Feldwebel König did superb service sniping at the enemy, inflicting casualties until his ammunition was exhausted. By now Herr Flik had been forced to leave his train which, now controlled by the Reds, has been moved further up the line to clear their fields of fire. As darkness approaches the Reds will have no alternative but to withdraw their shattered remnants or risk being annihilated where they stand.
Westphalia Chris wonders what time the next train to Hull is......
Nightfall brings silence and no further Red activity, daylight dawns and the Reds have left the area, recoiling back from whence they came.
Our casualties were buried at our military cemetery on the edge of the port facilities with full military honours, they will be sadly missed:-
1st Ersatz Company
Gefreiter Fritz Mueller
Schütze Hermann Schäfer
2nd Ersatz Company
Schütze Gunter Schmidt
Schütze Hermann Schwartz
Schütze Wilhelm Paulus
Schütze Albert Weiss
Next of kin have been informed.
With their sacrifice we have retained our bases and our ability to maintain supply for Graf Stauffenberg’s mission and our support of our Bukharin friends. The cleanup commences, returning our positions to normal and plugging the now obvious gaps in our defences.
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April 18, 2024, 08:30:08 AM
January 25, 2010, 01:17:21 PM