Battle of Volochayevka
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The Battle of Volochayevka was an important battle of the
Far Eastern Front The Far Eastern Front ( Russian: Дальневосточный фронт) was a front — a level of military formation that is equivalent to army group — of the Red Army during the Second World War. Early war service Тhe Far Eastern Front ...
in the latter part of the
Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...
. It occurred on February 10 through 12, 1922, near Volochayevka station on the
Amur Railway The broad gauge Amur Railway (russian: Амурская железная дорога, or Amurskaya zheleznaya doroga) is the last section of the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia, built in 1907–1916. The construction of this railway favoured t ...
, on the outskirts of the city of Khabarovsk. The People's Revolutionary Army of the Far Eastern Republic under
Vasily Blyukher Vasily Konstantinovich Blyukher ( rus, Васи́лий Константи́нович Блю́хер, Vasiliy Konstantinovich Blyukher; 1 December 1889 – 9 November 1938) was a Soviet military commander and Marshal of the Soviet Union. Earl ...
defeated units of the counterrevolutionary Far Eastern
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...
Army led by Viktorin Molchanov.


Background – November 1921 White offensive

In November 1921 the Far Eastern White Army launched an offensive against the Far Eastern Republic, Japanese intervention in Siberia, supported by Japan, which wanted a foothold in the Russian Far East. The White army, based on Vladivostok, advanced into the north of Primorskaya Oblast, following the railroad and the Ussuri River, occupying cities, towns and villages, and capturing Khabarovsk. On December 28, 1921, the Whites suffered their first check at a battle west of Khabarovsk and retreated to Volochayevka and fortified themselves in a position based on Ju-Quran hill. Throughout January 1922 the two armies skirmished and fought in this area.


Battle

At dawn on February 10, 1922, in severe cold and deep snow, Blyukher's Red Army attacked the White positions. The Reds had 7,600 soldiers with hundreds of machine guns and 30 field guns, and two light machine-gun tanks. The White Army had 4,950 soldiers equipped with 13 guns and many fewer automatic weapons. The Red attack of February 10 was repulsed with heavy losses. One of the Red tanks was knocked out and the other broke down. Wounded died quickly in the temperatures. Blyukher regrouped on February 11, then attacked again on February 12. This time, the 3rd and 6th Regiments broke through the wire and after fierce fighting the Reds captured Ju-Quran hill around noon. This rendered the White position untenable, and Molchanov retreated.


Aftermath

On February 13, Molchanov's White forces retreated past Khabarovsk and the Red Army entered the city. The Red Army was too exhausted to effectively pursue the White Army, which escaped encirclement. However, White military fortunes continued on a downward path after this battle, and the last remnants of White and Japanese forces in the Far East surrendered or evacuated by October 25, 1922.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Volochayevka, Battle of Battles of the Russian Civil War, Volochaevka 1922 in Russia February 1922 events