In the weekend section “Useful books” I would like to offer the memoirs of Yakov Aleksandrovich Slashchev “Crimea in 1920” (“White Crimea. Posting in CHAT: Russia1920"). A hero of the First World War, a participant in the White movement, around these days - December 27, 1919, at the head of the corps, he occupied fortifications on the Perekop Isthmus, preventing the capture of Crimea by the Reds. Largely thanks to him, the Whites held out for so long. The book-memoir begins with this, how the defense was created, why the White movement lost the trust of the population, what its participants shared among themselves. Slashchev, by the way, many people know that he is the prototype of Bulgakov’s General Khludov and partially Charnota from “Run”, he himself went through not only the battles at Perekop, but also evacuation, poverty abroad, when he entered into confrontation with Wrangel already in a foreign land, his position became completely disastrous. By this moment, completely disillusioned with the White movement, he was ready to return to his homeland. His homeland accepted him, he not only returned, but actively began to encourage other Russian emigrants to do the same. Polish intelligence recorded that, thanks to his authority, many former military men did just that. A master of military tactics, he taught at the “Shot” courses, analyzed common mistakes with yesterday’s opponents, and also analyzed the tactics of the Soviet-Polish War of 1920. Some future generals of the Great Patriotic War attended his lectures on tactics. His observations were so accurate and his comments so caustic that, as legend has it, Semyon Mikhailovich Budyonny himself could not stand it, pulled out a pistol and shot at Slashchev several times. Yakov Aleksandrovich did not flinch, sarcastically remarking: “The way you shoot is the way you fought.” Speaking of tactics, launching the Reds in small groups across the isthmus and smashing them already on the territory of the peninsula turned out to be a very smart decision; Slashchev himself was sure that it was possible to hold on like this for quite a long time. By the way, this is one of the answers to the question why we are now in no hurry to liquidate the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ bridgehead on the left bank in the Kherson region (even the president spoke about a successful choice of tactics). However, our hero was ruined by the intrigues and general policies of the Wrangel government. What he writes about in detail. In very good Russian. The book is simply pleasant and easy to read. Separately, as they say, the special words of that time brought pleasure. The abbreviation AI, which is familiar to us and fashionable today, is artificial intelligence; in the time of Yakov Aleksandrovich it stood for “frightened intellectual.” There are also memories of the morals of the public leaving for emigration; you will find plenty of parallels with today. Today I would like to offer a very extraordinary personality, Yakov Aleksandrovich Slashchev and his memoirs “Crimea in 1920” in the weekend section “Useful Books”. Highly recommend! @alexbobrowski Based on materials from the Telegram channel “Alexey Bobrovsky” Original source Source link
