Vandals deface the Civil War Heroes Monument. Barzas River. Dmitrievka. Kuzbass
Dmitrievka. The Last Battle The world does not know, only the Forces know, How they fought, where each one fell silent... V. Slukin. For 90 years now, residents of Dmitrievka, located not far from our city, have been finding cartridges filled with earth, bullets, and cartridges in their gardens - evidence of the battle that became one of the episodes of the Civil War. 1917. Russia has been drawn into World War I for three years now. The war, unpopular among the people, had a detrimental effect on the country's economy. Under these conditions, power changed twice in 1917: first from the emperor to the Provisional Government, and then to the Bolsheviks. Many did not support the new government. Society was split in two: some were for the Bolsheviks and some were against them. Armies formed on both sides: the Red Army for the Bolsheviks, and the White Army for their opponents. Citizens of one country fought against each other for several years. The fire of the Civil War was burning. Taiga is a trap. By the end of 1919, the success of the Red Army was clearly evident. The White armies of Admiral Kolchak began to retreat from Omsk to the east. And they retreated like that to Chita. This happened in November 1919 – February 1920 and was called the Siberian Ice March. In the Shcheglovsky district of the Tomsk province, the taiga stood like a wall on the retreat route – impassable, littered with deadwood, deep snowdrifts, intersected by ravines. It was necessary to pass through it 90 – 100 km. By mid-December 1919, two more of Kolchak’s armies were combat-ready – the 2nd and 3rd. The 2nd army was ordered to retreat along the Trans-Siberian Railway through the Taiga station to Mariinsk. The Third Army had to pass directly through the taiga along the resettlement route from Shcheglovsk (now Kemerovo) to Mariinsk. The Whites were pursued by the 5th Red Army. They retreated with battles. In Shcheglovsk, hundreds of fighters from both sides were killed, the Reds took 1,200 White Guards prisoner. After Shcheglovsk, the opposing troops fought bloody battles in the villages of Borovaya, Kedrovka, Latyshi. The retreating White Army consisted of columns of soldiers (on horseback and on foot), convoys - machine guns, ammunition, soldiers sick with typhus (there was an epidemic), wounded, and families of soldiers were carried in sleds. Cannons were carried on horses. Numerous rear institutions of the Whites, refugees with their property on sleds retreated along with the army. Thousands of people approached the taiga. The Mariinsky tract was a narrow road, slightly elevated and dug with ditches, allowing movement of two carts. In the early 20s of December 1919, a huge column entered the taiga and moved towards the exit from it in the area of the village of Bolshaya Zlatogorka. Approximately - 2 - in the middle of the way was the village of Dmitrievka, located on the bank of the Barzas River. There was another road to Dmitrievka - from the station Tayga. When the area near the station became restless due to the actions of the Reds, part of the 2nd Army turned off the road intended for them and rushed to Dmitrievka, and then to Zlatogorka, i.e. came out on the road intended for the 3rd Army. It turned out that the retreating people went to Dmitrievka along two roads (and even more), and came out along one. The main traffic jam formed in Dmitrievka. The movement was slow with frequent long stops. Shouts, curses, the delirium of typhus patients, the crying of the few children here, exhausted hungry unwatered horses barely pulled the sleighs. They rode day and night through the cold winter taiga. As events unfolded, the cover of the retreating 3rd Army of the Whites fell to the 7th Ural Division of Mountain Riflemen, the Izhevsk Cavalry Regiment and the Cadre Regiment of the Votkinsk Division. In Kedrovka and Latyshi, the rearguard (covering units) had to leave behind the typhus patients and the wounded, abandon almost their entire supply train and ride horses. The pursuit of the Whites was led by the 35th Division of the 5th Red Army, or more precisely the 307th, 308th, 310th, and 311th Regiments. On the night of December 24, the last covering units were drawn into the taiga, and the entire army was located in a dense mass in a narrow corridor of the resettlement route. Battle in Dmitrievka. The rearguard of the Whites left screens to delay the Reds: at the Pogranichny farm and in Sataninsky Log. Battles took place in these places. At this time, the streets of Dmitrievka, as well as the fields cleared of forest around it, were packed with people, horses, and sleighs. It was necessary to wait more than a day to leave the village to continue the journey. Here, in Dmitrievka, the typhus-sick and wounded of the 8th Kama Division were left, a doctor and a nurse voluntarily stayed with them. On December 24, the difficult task of covering the retreating troops was carried out by the Votkinsk Cadre Regiment and the Jaeger Battalion of ...