Gas attack Osovets fortress 1915. Attack of the Dead

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Due to the betrayal of the allies and internal turmoil, Russia was not among the victors in the First World War, but with its victories and millions of victims it made a huge contribution to the defeat of Germany and its allies. Among them, the “attack of the dead” in Russian Poland on August 6, 1915 stands out.

“It’s not enough to kill a Russian soldier—he must also be knocked to the ground!” - the Prussian king Frederick II, who knew this from his own sad experience, taught the German military. The Germans, the best soldiers in Europe, never learned this. Even when they thought they were winning, they ultimately suffered terrible defeats. Not only from living Russian soldiers, but also from dead ones. The “attack of the dead” that took place on August 6, 1915 on the territory of Russian Poland, which turned the German victory obtained with the help of poisonous gases into a rout, is the best example of this.

This happened during the defense of the “toy” Osovets fortress, when the remnants of several companies of the 226th Zemlyansky Regiment, standing with one foot in the grave, poisoned during a massive gas attack, turned the 18th German Landwehr Division into a stampede. As well as the units assigned to it for reinforcement, which were supported by four “Big Berthas” - 420-mm caliber siege guns, 64 siege guns of smaller caliber. A total of 17 artillery batteries, which also fired shells with poisonous gases, and 30 gas batteries along the entire assault line.

It was going to be an easy walk

The Kaiser's command was well prepared for this, already the third assault on the strategically important Osovets railway, taking into account the difficult experience of the first two, when the Germans suffered very serious losses. After the Russians refused to surrender at the request of the envoy, at 4 o’clock in the morning, “catching the wind,” the Germans launched a gas attack. The poisonous gas rushed forward - it lethal effect was up to 12 kilometers deep and up to 12 meters high. All the greenery in and around the fortress was destroyed: the leaves turned yellow, curled up and fell off, the grass turned black, the flowers were left without petals.

Having no reliable means of protection against gases, Russian soldiers died, writhing in terrible agony. As a result, the 9th, 10th and 11th companies of the Zemlyansky Regiment were completely out of action. About 40 people remained in the ranks from the 12th company in the central redoubt, and about fifty from another three companies in another position. The entire garrison of the small fortress received poisoning of varying degrees of severity, 1,600 people were out of action. There was no one to defend the first and second lines of defense, and the Germans, as if on a walk, went forward. They were also helped by artillery, which fired powerful barrages and fired shells containing poisonous gases into the Russian rear. The Russian guns were silent.

According to eyewitnesses, the entire fortress was shrouded in smoke - here and there huge tongues of fire burst out from shell explosions, Bert shots raised fountains of water and mountains of uprooted earth into the sky, uprooted trees, the earth shook.

Following the gas wave, 14 Landwehr battalions - at least 7 thousand soldiers - moved. Overcoming the single resistance of dying Russian soldiers, they quickly occupied the territory of the fortress and almost cut the Russian defense into two parts, which meant the inevitability of its fall.

For most European countries The First World War was bloodier, more difficult and difficult than the Second World War. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Counterattack of the "dead"

And then, when they were already celebrating victory, the commander of Osovets, Lieutenant General Brzhozovsky, ordered those who survived and were able to shoot to open artillery fire on the territory of the fortress already occupied by the Germans and counterattack with bayonets “with everything possible.” And then, coughing up blood and spitting out scraps of burnt lungs, those who could barely stand on their feet, with faces twisted with anger and rage, rose up in a bayonet attack. dead Russians warriors. They sent the Germans, distraught at the sight of them, into a panicked flight.

An artillery duel of only two obsolete naval 150-mm cannons of the Kane system against 17 batteries of German siege artillery was won by poisoned gases by Russian gunners. With their support, the remnants of the 13th company under the command of Second Lieutenant Kotlinsky counterattacked the Germans and drove them along the railway, returning the 1st and 2nd lines of defense. After the heroic death of this commander, the rush of the “dead men” was led by Second Lieutenant Strzheminsky, who soon also died. The Germans were driven back to their original positions by soldiers under the command of Ensign Radke, judging by his last name - Russian German. By 8 o'clock in the morning it was all over. By 11 o'clock there is tar and guns. Osowiec held out again. The Germans suffered a terrible defeat. Having killed the Russians, they failed to “throw them down,” and they also had to experience the victorious counterattack of the “dead men.”

Near Ypres in Flanders, where the Germans carried out a powerful gas attack against the British, they succeeded: they broke through the front and advanced far forward. With the Russians it was a complete bummer.

Do Russians want war?

All this, of course, does not mean that Russians really like to fight, and that they are not afraid of guns, gases, tanks, or planes. Even 120 years ago, Russia generally tried to ban the use of chemical weapons, which remain in the arsenals of some countries, the United States, for example, today.

The German gas attack at Ypres in Flanders against the British was a complete success. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

It was then that, on Russia’s initiative, the world’s first disarmament conference took place in The Hague. It was initiated by Emperor Nicholas II. Out of respect for the Russian monarch, the opening of the conference was timed to coincide with his birthday - May 18. Russia chaired the forum, which was attended by 26 countries—virtually all the independent states of that time, except for South American ones.

Unfortunately, due to the position of the leading European countries, it was not possible to curtail the arms race.

Emperor Nicholas II at the end of the 19th century tried to rid the world of the horrors of war and the use of chemical weapons. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

However, Nicholas II still managed to reduce the horrors of wars. Thus, among the documents agreed upon in The Hague were: “On the non-use of projectiles whose sole purpose is to distribute asphyxiating or harmful gases” and “On the non-use of bullets that easily unfold or flatten in the human body.” They came into force, although they were violated during the First and partly the Second World Wars. But these were precisely violations of what was recognized as wrong and inhumane. If it were not for these declarations, the use of poisonous gases and explosive bullets would have become much more widespread.

To better imagine what this would mean, it is worth remembering that during the First World War (1914-1918), despite the above restrictions, about 100 thousand military personnel died from gas attacks and suffered many times more - they became crippled, lost their sight, sick offspring.

No one is forgotten, nothing is forgotten

The betrayal of the Allies, a coup d'etat organized by them in Russia with the complicity of those who sought to avoid the defeat of the Germans at all costs, which led to the collapse of the country and its army, a terrible revolution and Civil War, did not allow the Russians to be among the winners then. But without the sacrificial feat of the Russian army, neither the French nor the British, together with the Americans who joined them later, would never have defeated the Kaiser’s Germany, which was more powerful than Hitler’s Germany and had very strong allies. Followed by " imperialist war» disasters and long period Communist oblivion in Russia is over. Therefore, today it is especially important to remember all Russian heroes.

On August 6, 1915, soldiers of the Russian Imperial Army accomplished an unprecedented heroic feat - defending the Osowiec fortress from the German army, 60 people, being virtually dead, put 7,000 enemy soldiers to flight.

This feat was later called "attack of the dead". And this is not the script of a horror movie about zombies, but our story. The soldiers of the Russian army proved to the whole world that death is not a reason to refuse an attack. Eternal Glory to the heroes!

Osovets Fortress

The Russian fortress Osowiec was located twenty-three and a half kilometers from East Prussia. It was she who became an obstacle on the way of the German army, since there was no way to get around it. There were swamps around it, and it stood on the banks of the Beaver River.

The Germans began the siege of Osovets in early 1915, which continued 190 days. The latest military equipment – ​​“Big Berthas”, 4 guns – was brought to the walls of the fortress. In total, there were 17 enemy batteries near Osovets, which also included 64 siege weapons.

The first days of the siege

On February 25, the German army began bombing the Osovets fortress 420-mm guns, the shells of which weighed 800 kilograms. They broke through concrete and steel floors. The crater from such a shell was 5 meters deep and 15 meters in diameter.

The Germans decided, based on their calculations, that they would take the fortress even with two such heavy guns during a 24-hour constant bombardment. In the first days, Osovets was hit by more than 200 thousand only heavy shells. This bombardment continued for a whole week - until March 3.

“Brick buildings were falling apart, wooden ones were burning, weak concrete ones were causing huge chips in the vaults and walls; the wire connection was interrupted, the highway was damaged by craters; trenches and all improvements on the ramparts, canopies, machine-gun nests, light dugouts - everything was wiped off the face of the earth.”

The fortress was also attacked by enemy airplanes. Everything was in clouds of dust and smoke. Russian command asked the defenders to stand for at least two days. Osovets stood for six months...

Inhumane attack

August 6, 1915 became the last day of the siege for the defenders. The German army used gas attack. They planned it for a long time and waited the right direction wind.

30 batteries with several thousand gas cylinders were prepared and carefully camouflaged. At 4 am, a dark green fog of a mixture of chlorine and bromine flowed into the Russian positions, reaching them in 5-10 minutes. Gas wave 12-15 meters high and 8 km wide, it penetrated forward to a depth of 20 km.

The defenders of the Osovets fortress did not have gas masks. All living things in the path of the deadly gas were destroyed: grass, leaves on trees, animals and even birds flying within the affected radius. Anyone who inhaled the gas was doomed to quick death.

Enemy flight

3 companies of the Zemlyansky regiment were completely destroyed. Of the 1000 people who defended the approaches to the fortress, about 60 people remained with two machine guns.

14 Landwehr battalions, at least 7 thousand people, moved after the wave of gases. They weren't going on the attack. For cleaning. Being confident that they will not meet anyone alive. What happened next...

Here own words German general Ludendorff:

“When the German chains approached the trenches, counterattacking Russian infantry fell on them from the thick green chlorine fog. The sight was terrifying: the soldiers walked into the bayonet area with their faces wrapped in rags, shaking with a terrible cough, literally spitting out pieces of their lungs onto their bloody tunics. These were the remnants of the 13th company of the 226th Zemlyansky infantry regiment, a little more than 60 people. But they plunged the enemy into such horror that the German infantrymen, not accepting the battle, rushed back, trampling each other and hanging on their own wire fences. And from the Russian batteries shrouded in chlorine clouds, what seemed to be already lost artillery began to hit them.”

Several dozen half-dead Russian soldiers put to flight three German infantry regiment! Nothing like the world military art didn't know...

Attack of the Dead

What made seven thousand German soldiers flee back? If the remaining 60 infantrymen had been sharp shooters, even in this case they would have been swept away without being noticed. These heroes simply got up from the ground and, staggering, went on the attack against an enemy outnumbered by more than a hundred times! And the enemy ran...

Artillery General Brzhozovsky, who defended the Osovets fortress, later fought on the side of the Whites against the Bolsheviks. That is why the siege of Osovets in Soviet era were not mentioned in history.

In 1915, the world looked with admiration at the defense of Osovets, a small Russian fortress 23.5 km from what was then East Prussia. The main task of the fortress was, as S. Khmelkov, a participant in the defense of Osovets, wrote, “to block the enemy’s closest and most convenient path to Bialystok... to force the enemy to lose time or conduct long siege, or looking for workarounds." Bialystok – transport hub, the capture of which opened the road to Vilna (Vilnius), Grodno, Minsk and Brest. So for the Germans, the shortest route to Russia lay through Osovets. It was impossible to bypass the fortress: it was located on the banks of the Beaver River, controlling the entire area, and the surrounding area was full of swamps. “There are almost no roads in this area, very few villages, individual courtyards communicate with each other along rivers, canals and narrow paths,” this is how the publication of the People’s Commissariat of Defense of the USSR described the area already in 1939. “The enemy will find no roads, no housing, no closures, no artillery positions here.”

Osovets fortress. Fort No. 1

The defense of the Osovets fortress during the First World War was a shining example courage, perseverance and valor of Russian soldiers. The history of this war knows only two examples when fortresses and their garrisons fully completed the tasks assigned to them: the French fortress of Verdun and the small Russian fortress of Osovets. The garrison of the fortress heroically withstood the siege of many times superior enemy troops for six months, and retreated only by order of the command after strategic expediency further defense disappeared.

History of construction

Currently, the city of Osowiec is located in eastern Poland, 50 km from the city of Bialystok (since 1795 this territory was part of Russian Empire, Poland gained independence in 1918). The city is divided into two parts by the Beaver River (Biebrza).
After the third partition of Poland, in 1795, the construction of defensive fortifications began near the town of Osowice. The area had strategic importance, since it was through Osowice that the only route in this area from East Prussia and Austria to the eastern regions of the Russian Empire ran.

According to Russian plans General Staff from 1873, the Osovets fortress was supposed to protect the crossing of the river. Beavers and the transport hub of Bialystok from a possible attack from the north (East Prussia). In addition, it was supposed to be the eastern stronghold of the fortified line between the Narew and Bobry rivers. Design work was led by the talented Russian fortification engineer General E.I. Totleben. In 1877, in connection with preparations for war with Turkey, all design work was stopped. They resumed in 1882, under the leadership of General R.V. Krassovsky. At the same time, construction began on the Central Fort, or, as it was also called, Fort No. 1.

In 1891, on the southern bank of the Beaver River, at a distance of about 2 km from railway bridge, a defensive object appeared in the form of an irregular hexagon. The area of ​​the fortification was about 1 km².

The main positions of the fort were located on two ramparts. The inner rampart was 14-16 m high and consisted of open artillery positions. The outer rampart consisted of infantry rifle positions. The thickness of the ramparts at the base was more than 50 m. The fort was surrounded by a ditch, protected by caponiers or corner firing positions on the ramparts, and filled with water and three sides, except the northern one. Northern part fortifications towered above the others and was separated from them by a low rampart, forming a fortified redoubt. On the north-eastern side the fort was protected by an extended pentagonal ravelin. In courtyard The fort housed infrastructure facilities: barracks, ammunition depots and a garrison church.

Osovets fortress. Ruins of the 2nd fort.

The fort's garrison consisted of 4 rifle companies and an artillery half-battalion with 60 guns mounted on the ramparts.
In addition to the Central Fort, under the leadership of the same General Krassovsky, two more forts were built.

On the northern bank of the Beaver River, to protect the railway bridge, Fort No. 2 was built with two shafts in the shape of a five-pointed lunette measuring 400x500 m, surrounded by a water ditch, protected by three small caponiers at the corners of the front and flank sides. In the courtyard of the fort there were fortified barracks for 1 rifle company and 1 artillery platoon. The isthmus of the fort was protected by a low earthen rampart without lateral protection.

In 1886, about 2 km west of the Central Fort, construction began on Fort No. 3, which was significantly different from the others. It consisted of one shaft with rifle and artillery positions. The dry ditch surrounding the fort was protected by internal caponiers. Fort No. 3 was also called “Swedish” because it was built near the river crossing built here Charles XII in 1708, the defense of which was its main function. Later, Fort No. 3 was connected to Fort No. 1 by two earthen ramparts 3 m high and a ditch 20-30 m wide.

As a result, a fortified area arose in the middle of the town of Osovets, inside which were the main warehouses for ammunition and provisions, barracks, a hospital, gun workshops, and a cemetery.

After 1885 European armies gradually switched to highly effective artillery ammunition, which devalued the fortifications that existed by that time. For this reason War Ministry The Russian Empire adopted a plan to increase the defense capability of all fortresses and to build new ones. The brick walls were reinforced with concrete up to 2 m thick on a sand cushion more than 1 m deep. The construction of all new structures was carried out exclusively from concrete.

In 1891, construction began on another fortification facility 3 km west of Fort No. 3. According to the design of engineer N. A. Buinitsky, using the terrain, a reinforced concrete structure was erected here - Fort No. 4, or “New Fort” . It was surrounded by a flat and heavily dissected earthen rampart with rifle positions and a deep dry ditch. From the west, the ditch was filled with water. Inside the fort there were concrete barracks with deep basements with vaulted ceilings, where shelters and ammunition depots were located. Due to insufficient funding, the construction of the facility was not completed by 1914. As a result, the fort served as a auxiliary facility during the First World War.

Communications between forts No. 3 and No. 4 on the southern side were covered with an earthen object complex shape, the so-called Lomza redoubt.

After 1900, concrete protective fortifications were built to the north of the railway, as well as at the highway bridge, and Central Fort No. 1 was reinforced with concrete. A system of transitions was built on its ramparts and inside them, which was connected to the rest of the fort by underground galleries . These galleries, leading from the courtyard to the low rampart and caponiers, simultaneously represented rifle positions for flank protection of the low rampart and the approaches to it. To protect the flank of the main ditch, new caponiers were built, and existing ones were converted. All caponiers were equipped with power plants that powered arc spotlights to illuminate the ditch. After 1905, Fort No. 2 and the fortification at the railway bridge were connected by a water ditch and rampart with concrete casemates.

As a result of experience Russo-Japanese War 1904-1905 and experiments carried out in 1908, further construction of the fortress was carried out using reinforced concrete and armored parts, which at that time began to be used in Russian fortress construction in the Kronstadt fortress.

Lieutenant General N.A. Buinitsky proposed the construction of a modern fortified group 4 km east of the main fortress. It was supposed to consist of two forts triangular shape and fortified positions for two cal. howitzer batteries. 152 mm. Due to the military threat and lack of funds, this project was never implemented.

In 1912-1914, on the southern bank of the Beaver River, northeast of Fort No. 1 on Skobelevsky Hill, another new, modern fortified position was built. The top of the hill was fortified with rifle positions with powerful reinforced concrete shelters designed for an infantry company, equipped with two observation armored caps. In the northern part there was a field artillery battery; in the center, the only armored artillery bunker in Russia at that time was built. It was equipped with an armored turret of the Gallopin system manufactured by Schneider-Creusot for a 152 mm caliber gun. Such towers were widely used in the fortresses of Verdun, Toul, Epinal and Belfort. Not far from the bunker, an ammunition depot was built, designed to hold 2,000 rounds.

Garrison and weapons

By the beginning of the First World War, the garrison of the fortress was headed by Lieutenant General Karl-August Shulman. In January 1915, he was replaced by Major General Nikolai Brzhozovsky, who commanded the fortress until the end active actions garrison in August 1915.

Osovets. Fortress church. Parade on the occasion of the presentation of the St. George Crosses.

The fortress garrison consisted of 1 infantry regiment, two artillery battalions, sapper unit and support units.

The garrison was armed with 200 guns of caliber from 57 to 203 mm. The infantry was armed with rifles, light machine guns of the Madsen system of the 1902 and 1903 model, heavy machine guns of the Maxim system of the 1902 and 1910 model, as well as turret machine guns of the Gatling system.

Defense of the fortress during the First World War. The first assault - September 1914.

In September 1914, units of the 8th German Army approached the fortress - 40 infantry battalions, which almost immediately launched a massive attack. Already by September 21, 1914, having a multiple numerical superiority, the Germans managed to push back the field defense of the Russian troops to a line that allowed artillery shelling of the fortress.

At the same time from Konigsberg German command 60 guns of caliber up to 203 mm were transferred to the fortress. However, the shelling began only on September 26, 1914. Two days later, the Germans launched an attack on the fortress, but it was suppressed by heavy Russian artillery fire. The next day, Russian troops carried out two flank counterattacks, which forced the Germans to stop shelling and hastily retreat, withdrawing their artillery.

First German attack showed that fortified infantry field positions in a swampy area 2 km from Fort No. 2 were located too close to the fortress itself, and this allowed the enemy to conduct artillery fire. In order to move the fortified line beyond the reach of enemy artillery, an attempt was made to build new positions 8-10 km from the fortress. With the resumption of hostilities in 1915, they were never equipped. We managed to equip only small trenches, in some places deepened to a height full height. There were not enough field barriers.

Second assault - February - March 1915

On February 3, 1915, German troops made a second attempt to storm the fortress. A heavy, prolonged battle ensued for the first line of advanced Russian field positions. Russian units in these difficult conditions held back the enemy in small trenches for 5 days. Under the pressure of superior enemy forces, by decision of the garrison command, on the night of February 9, the infantry of the fortress was withdrawn to the second line of field fortifications, which were more prepared.

Over the next two days, despite fierce attacks, Russian units held the line. However, the withdrawal of Russian units from the unprepared fortified area allowed the German artillery, already on February 13, to begin shelling the forts again using heavy siege weapons of 100-420 mm caliber. The fire was carried out in volleys of 360 shells, every four minutes - a volley. During the week of shelling, 200-250 thousand heavy shells alone were fired at the fortress.

Also, specifically for shelling the fortress, the Germans deployed 4 Skoda siege mortars of 305 mm caliber to Osovets. German airplanes bombed the fortress from above.

Mortar "Skoda", 1911

Skoda mortar shell.

The European press in those days wrote: “The appearance of the fortress was terrible, the entire fortress was shrouded in smoke, through which, in one place or another, huge flames burst out from the explosion of shells; pillars of earth, water and entire trees flew upward; the earth trembled, and it seemed that nothing could withstand such a hurricane of fire. The impression was that not a single person would emerge unscathed from this hurricane of fire and iron.”

The command of the General Staff, believing that it was demanding the impossible, asked the garrison commander to hold out for at least 48 hours. The fortress survived for another six months.

Despite heavy losses as a result of artillery shelling, which was most intense on February 14-16 and February 25 - March 5, 1915 and led to numerous fires Inside the fortress, the Russian fortifications survived. Moreover, a number of siege weapons were destroyed by the fire of Russian batteries, including two “Big Berthas”. After several mortars of the largest caliber were damaged, the German command withdrew these guns beyond the reach of the fortress defense.

The second line of advanced positions also held firm. This failure forced the command of the German army to switch to positional actions in this sector of the front, which continued until the beginning of July.

Third assault - July-August 1915

At the beginning of July 1915, under the command of Field Marshal von Hindenburg German troops launched a large-scale offensive. Part of it was a new assault on the still unconquered Osowiec fortress.

The Germans began setting up gas batteries at the end of July. 30 gas batteries totaling several thousand cylinders were installed. The Germans waited for more than 10 days for a fair wind.

The following infantry forces were prepared to storm the fortress:

The 76th Landwehr Regiment attacks Sosnya and the Central Redoubt and advances along the rear of the Sosnya position to the forester’s house, which is at the beginning of the railway road;

The 18th Landwehr Regiment and the 147th Reserve Battalion advance on both sides of the railway, break through to the forester’s house and attack, together with the 76th Regiment, the Zarechnaya position;

The 5th Landwehr Regiment and the 41st Reserve Battalion attack Bialogrondy and, having broken through the position, storm the Zarechny Fort.

In reserve were the 75th Landwehr Regiment and two reserve battalions, which were supposed to advance along the railway and reinforce the 18th Landwehr Regiment when attacking the Zarechnaya position.

In total, the following forces were assembled to attack the Sosnenskaya and Zarechnaya positions:

13 - 14 infantry battalions,

1 battalion of sappers,

24 - 30 heavy siege weapons,

30 poison gas batteries.

The forward position of the Bialogrondy fortress - Sosnya was occupied by the following forces Russians:

Right flank (positions near Bialogronda):

1st company of the Countryman Regiment,

two companies of militia.

Center (positions from the Rudsky Canal to the central redoubt):

9th company of the Countryman Regiment,

10th company of the Compatriot Regiment,

12th company of the Compatriot Regiment,

a company of militia.

Left flank (position near Sosnya) - 11th company of the Zemlyachensky regiment,

The general reserve (at the forester's house) is one company of militia.

Thus, the Sosnenskaya position was occupied by five companies of the 226th Zemlyansky Infantry Regiment and four companies of militia, for a total of nine companies of infantry.

The infantry battalion, sent every night to forward positions, left at 3 o'clock for the Zarechny fort to rest.
At 4 o'clock on August 6, the Germans opened heavy artillery fire on the railway road, the Zarechny position, communications between the Zarechny fort and the fortress, and on the batteries of the bridgehead, after which, at a signal from rockets, the enemy infantry began an offensive.

Gas attack

Having failed to achieve success with artillery fire and numerous attacks, on August 6, 1915, at 4 a.m., after waiting for the desired wind direction, German units used poisonous gases consisting of chlorine and bromine compounds against the defenders of the fortress. The defenders of the fortress did not have gas masks. According to eyewitnesses, under the influence of gases the grass turned yellow, the leaves on the trees curled up and fell off. The gases caused huge losses to the defenders of the Sosnenskaya position - the 9th, 10th and 11th companies of the Zemlyachesky Regiment were killed entirely, about 40 people remained from the 12th company with one machine gun; from the three companies defending Bialogrondy, there were about 60 people left with two machine guns. 12 km from the gas release site, in the villages of Ovechki, Zhodzi, and Malaya Kramkovka, 18 local residents were seriously poisoned.

Believing that the garrison defending the positions of the fortress was dead, the German units went on the offensive. 14 Landwehr battalions - at least seven thousand infantry - went on the attack. When the German infantry approached the forward fortifications of the fortress, the remaining defenders of the first line rose to meet them in a counterattack - the remnants of the 13th company of the 226th Zemlyachensky infantry regiment, a little more than 60 people. The counterattackers had a terrifying appearance - with faces mutilated by chemical burns, wrapped in rags, shaking with a terrible cough, literally spitting out pieces of lungs onto bloody tunics. The unexpected attack and the sight of the attackers overwhelmed German units were horrified and took to a panicked flight. Several dozen half-dead Russian soldiers put units of the 18th Landwehr Regiment to flight. The attack of a handful of Russian infantry was supported by fortress artillery. Later, participants in the events German side and European journalists dubbed this counterattack the “attack of the dead.”

This episode was reflected in the work of Professor A. S. Khmelkov:

The fortress artillery batteries, despite heavy losses in poisoned people, opened fire, and soon the fire of nine heavy and two light batteries slowed the advance of the 18th Landwehr Regiment and cut off the general reserve (75th Landwehr Regiment) from the position. The head of the 2nd defense department sent the 8th, 13th and 14th companies of the 226th Zemlyansky regiment from the Zarechnaya position for a counterattack. The 13th and 8th companies, having lost up to 50% poisoned, turned around on both sides of the railway and began to attack; The 13th company, having met units of the 18th Landwehr Regiment, rushed with bayonets with a shout of “Hurray”. This attack of the “dead men,” as an eyewitness of the battle reports, amazed the Germans so much that they did not accept the battle and rushed back; many Germans died on the wire nets in front of the second line of trenches from the fire of the fortress artillery. The concentrated fire of the fortress artillery on the trenches of the first line (Leonov's yard) was so strong that the Germans did not accept the attack and hastily retreated.

S.A. Khmelkov “The Fight for Osovets”. State Military Publishing House of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR, Moscow - 1939

The end of the defense of the fortress

At the end of April the Germans launched another powerful blow in East Prussia and at the beginning of May 1915 they broke through the Russian front in the Memel-Libau region. In May, German-Austrian troops concentrated superior forces in the Gorlice area, managed to break through the Russian front (see: Gorlitsky breakthrough) in Galicia. After this, in order to avoid encirclement, a general strategic retreat of the Russian army from Galicia and Poland began. By August 1915, due to changes in Western Front, the strategic need to defend the fortress lost all meaning. In connection with this, the high command of the Russian army decided to stop defensive battles and evacuate the fortress garrison. On August 18, 1915, the evacuation of the garrison began, which took place without panic, in accordance with plans. Everything that could not be removed, as well as the surviving fortifications, were blown up by sappers. During the retreat, Russian troops, if possible, organized the evacuation of civilians. The withdrawal of troops from the fortress ended on August 22. On August 25, German troops entered the empty, destroyed fortress.

Strategic importance of fortress defense

The Russian defenders of Osovets in the First World War managed to survive in almost the same conditions in which almost all Belgian and French fortresses on the Western Front fell rather quickly in 1914. The reason for this is the well-organized defense of advanced positions and more effective counter-fire from fortress artillery, the courage and heroism of Russian soldiers. The defense of Osovets thwarted the plans of the German command in the Bialystok direction to break through to the junction of the two Russian armies. The garrison of the fortress pinned down significant German forces for almost a year.

“The Russians don’t give up!” The birth of this famous phrase The press and memoirs of participants in the First World War associate it with that battle. Morning of August 6, 1915. The Germans, besieging the Russian fortress of Osovets, begin a gas attack, liquid chlorine from hundreds of cylinders rushes towards the defenders of the outpost. Soon heavy gunfire is added to the gas. According to the calculations of the German commanders, few Russians could survive after this. But suddenly - the “dead” rise from their graves.

“We didn’t have gas masks, so the gases caused terrible injuries and chemical burns. When breathing, wheezing and bloody foam escaped from the lungs. The skin on our hands and faces was blistering. The rags we wrapped around our faces did not help. However, the Russian artillery began to act, sending shell after shell from the green chlorine cloud towards the Prussians. Here the head of the 2nd defense department of Osovets Svechnikov, shaking from a terrible cough, croaked: “My friends, we won’t die like the Prussian cockroaches from poisoning, we’ll show them so that they remember forever!” -

recalls a participant in the events, commander of the half-company of the 13th company, Alexey Lepyoshkin. Thus began the battle that later became known as the “attack of the dead.” On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, we decided to talk in detail about one of its most striking episodes.

"Black Time" of Russian fortresses

By by and large the fortresses were not lucky during the First World War. If for many years they were considered the main nodes of many kilometers of defense lines and therefore received the necessary funding for modernization, then during the Great War of 1914-1918 they were faced with big problems. And not only in Russia. It soon became clear that field troops could bypass fortresses, blocking their strong garrisons - sometimes equivalent in size to a small army - and turning impregnable citadels into huge stone traps. In most cases, the General Staff officers at the head of the army were not enthusiasts of serf war, and therefore in the end they found, from their point of view, the most effective way avoid capitulations of strong fortress garrisons - simply leave the fortresses to their fate when retreating field army, blowing up all their fortifications and leaving the enemy a pile of ruins. But behind these dry lines describing the decline of the “era of fortresses,” much is hidden: the hard everyday life of the garrisons, the roar of thousands of guns, betrayal and dedication, and, finally, one of the most famous episodes of the war - the “attack of the dead.” In recent years, it has become widely known and has become a symbol of the perseverance of the Russian soldier during the First World War (or, as it was called in Russia, the Second Patriotic War), much the same as the Brest Fortress became for the Great Patriotic War.

"Where the world ends,
The Osovets fortress stands,
There are terrible swamps there,
The Germans don’t want to get into them” -

This is how the militia warriors who found themselves in the fortress, by the will of fate, sang.

Past assaults and forces of the parties

The first two attempts to storm Osovets ( Detailed history The defense of Osovets is set out in the book of a direct participant in the events, S. A. Khmelkov, “The Fight for Osovets.” - Ed.) were undertaken in September 1914 and in February-March 1915 and ended in failure: the Germans suffered serious losses and did not resume the attack. The only thing is that the second attempt was more serious, and having failed, the Germans switched to positional warfare, actively accumulating forces and preparing a new assault.

The besiegers did not greatly outnumber the fortress garrison. However, German commanders were known for their ability to create a huge advantage in the main attack area, which they used on both the Eastern and Western fronts. This time, the 11th Landwehr (Landwehr - German militia-type troops, an analogue of the Russian militia - Ed.) division prepared for the assault extremely seriously. To capture the advanced Russian positions at Sosnenskaya and Zarechnaya, it was decided to use chemical agents and powerful artillery support.

Attention! Gases!

Toxic substances - in in this case chlorine - were still new to the warring parties, and therefore the means of defense of the Russian troops (as well as those of their allies on the Western Front) were imperfect. At that stage of the war, toxic substances were usually delivered in cylinders, and not, as later, in shells, so it was very important to have a tailwind so that the chlorine did not blow onto one’s own troops. The Germans had to wait in full combat readiness for more than ten days until the necessary wind blew. For the attack, 30 gas batteries were concentrated in four places (the exact number of cylinders in each of them is unknown, but usually there were 10-12 cylinders in one battery), and compressed air cylinders were connected to each as a compressor. As a result, liquid chlorine was released from the cylinders within 1.5-3 minutes.
The hour struck early in the morning of July 24 (August 6, new style) 1915. As stated in the Combat Diary of the 226th Zemlyansky Infantry Regiment,

“Around 4 o’clock in the morning, the Germans released a whole cloud of suffocating gases and, under the cover of their thick chains, launched an energetic offensive, mainly on the 1st, 2nd and 4th sections of the Sosnenskaya position. At the same time, the enemy opened hurricane fire on the Zarechny fort, the trans-river position and on the road leading from the latter to Sosnenskaya.”

However, there were already some measures to counteract the gases: the soldiers burned tow and straw in front of the trenches, watered the parapets and sprayed a disinfecting lime solution, and also put on the gas masks and bandages at their disposal. However, all this was not very effective, besides, many soldiers used ordinary wet rags with which they wrapped their faces.
The defenders suffered greatly: the 9th, 10th and 11th companies, who found themselves in the lowlands, practically ceased to exist, in the 12th company at the Central Redoubt there were about 40 people left in the ranks, at Bialogronda - about 60. The shelling of the fortress, including shells with toxic substances, also came as a surprise to the Russian troops, which is why the Russian artillery was unable to give an adequate response to the enemy, although it had the capabilities to do so.

German artillery created a barrage of fire, under the cover of which the Landwehr went on the offensive. Nobody expected resistance after such preparation. Everything went according to plan: units of the 18th and 76th Landwehr regiments took the first and second positions without any problems, easily breaking the resistance of the militia company, which was also heavily damaged by gases and artillery fire, standing at the Sosnenskaya position itself. However, then problems began: first, the Landsturmists of the 76th Regiment became too carried away with the offensive and fell under their own gases, losing about a thousand people, and when the remnants of the 12th Russian company opened fire from the central redoubt, the attack immediately stopped.

"Living Dead"

The already mentioned Combat Diary reports: “Having received a report about this (meaning the occupation of the 1st line of defense) from the commander of the 3rd battalion, Captain Potapov, who reported that the Germans who had occupied the trenches were continuing to advance towards the fortress and were already close to reserve, the regiment commander immediately ordered the 8th, 13th and 14th companies to move from the fort to the Sosnenskaya position and, launching a counterattack, drive the Germans out of our trenches occupied by them.” These units, including the 13th company, whose attack was led by second lieutenant Vladimir Karpovich Kotlinsky, were also heavily damaged by gas and artillery shelling and lost up to half of their personnel (the losses of the 14th company, which was in the fortress, were less). The Germans were promised that they would simply take unprotected positions. However, everything turned out differently: Russian soldiers with their faces wrapped in rags, “the living dead,” rose to meet them.
“Approaching 400 steps to the enemy, Second Lieutenant Kotlinsky, led by his company, rushed into the attack. With a bayonet strike he knocked the Germans out of their occupied position, forcing them to flee in disarray... Without stopping, the 13th company continued to pursue the fleeing enemy, with bayonets they knocked him out of the trenches he occupied in the 1st and 2nd sections of the Sosnensky positions. We reoccupied the latter, returning our anti-assault gun and machine guns captured by the enemy. At the end of this dashing attack, Second Lieutenant Kotlinsky was mortally wounded and transferred command of the 13th company to Second Lieutenant of the 2nd Osovets Engineer Company Strezheminsky, who completed and completed the work so gloriously begun by Second Lieutenant Kotlinsky.” Kotlinsky died in the evening of the same day. By the highest order of September 26, 1916, he was posthumously awarded the order St. George 4th degree.
One of the eyewitnesses told the Russkoe Slovo newspaper:

“I cannot describe the bitterness and rage with which our soldiers marched against the German poisoners. Strong rifle and machine-gun fire and densely exploding shrapnel could not stop the onslaught of enraged soldiers. Exhausted, poisoned, they fled with sole purpose- crush the Germans. There were no lagging behind, there was no need to rush anyone. There were no individual heroes here, the companies marched as one person, animated by only one goal, one thought: to die, but to take revenge on the vile poisoners.”

The Germans did not expect a counterattack; they generally believed that there was no one in the positions except the dead. But the “dead” rose from their graves. The rest was completed by the Russian artillery, which finally came to its senses. By 11 o'clock the Sosnenskaya position was cleared of the enemy, who did not repeat the attack. On that day, the Russian battle group that encountered the enemy lost approximately 600-650 officers, military officials and lower ranks killed, wounded, or gassed. The enemy suffered heavy losses.

As sad as it may be, the fate of the Osovets fortress had already been decided: an order was received to evacuate it. On August 23, the buildings and fortifications of the fortress abandoned by the Russian troops were blown up, and two days later the Germans occupied the still smoking ruins.
Osovets was abandoned, but the “attack of the dead” of the 13th company was not meaningless: it became miraculous monument to the Russian soldier who gave his life for the freedom of the peoples of Europe, so that they could choose their own future

“We didn’t have gas masks, so the gases caused terrible injuries and chemical burns. When breathing, wheezing and bloody foam escaped from the lungs. The skin on our hands and faces was blistering. The rags we wrapped around our faces did not help. However, the Russian artillery began to act, sending shell after shell from the green chlorine cloud towards the Prussians. Here the head of the 2nd defense department of Osovets Svechnikov, shaking from a terrible cough, croaked: “My friends, we won’t die like the Prussian cockroaches from poisoning, we’ll show them so that they remember forever!”

Attack of the Dead. Russians don't give up!

In 1915, the world looked with admiration at the defense of Osovets, a small Russian fortress 23.5 km from what was then East Prussia. The main task of the fortress was, as S. Khmelkov, a participant in the defense of Osovets, wrote, “to block the enemy’s closest and most convenient route to Bialystok... to force the enemy to waste time either waging a long siege, or searching for workarounds.” Bialystok is a transport hub, the capture of which opened the road to Vilna (Vilnius), Grodno, Minsk and Brest. So for the Germans, the shortest route to Russia lay through Osovets. It was impossible to bypass the fortress: it was located on the banks of the Beaver River, controlling the entire area, and the surrounding area was full of swamps. “There are almost no roads in this area, very few villages, individual courtyards communicate with each other along rivers, canals and narrow paths,” this is how the publication of the People’s Commissariat of Defense of the USSR described the area already in 1939. “The enemy will find no roads, no housing, no closures, no artillery positions here.” The Germans made their first attack in September 1914: having transferred large-caliber guns from Konigsberg, they bombarded the fortress for six days. The siege of Osovets began in January 1915 and lasted 190 days. The Germans used all their latest achievements against the fortress. They delivered the famous “Big Berthas” - 420-mm caliber siege weapons, the 800-kilogram shells of which broke through two-meter steel and concrete floors. The crater from such an explosion was five meters deep and fifteen in diameter.

The Germans calculated that to force the surrender of a fortress with a garrison of a thousand people, two such guns and 24 hours of methodical bombardment were enough: 360 shells, a salvo every four minutes. Four “Big Berthas” and 64 other powerful siege weapons, 17 batteries in total, were brought to Osovets.

The most terrible shelling took place at the beginning of the siege. “The enemy opened fire on the fortress on February 25, brought it to a hurricane on February 27 and 28, and continued to destroy the fortress until March 3,” recalled S. Khmelkov. According to his calculations, during this week of terrifying shelling, 200-250 thousand heavy shells alone were fired at the fortress. And in total during the siege - up to 400 thousand. “The brick buildings were falling apart, the wooden ones were burning, the weak concrete ones were causing huge splits in the vaults and walls; the wire connection was interrupted, the highway was damaged by craters; the trenches and all the improvements on the ramparts, such as canopies, machine-gun nests, light dugouts, were wiped off the face of the earth.” Clouds of smoke and dust hung over the fortress. Along with artillery, the fortress was bombed by German airplanes.

“The appearance of the fortress was terrible, the entire fortress was shrouded in smoke, through which, in one place or another, huge flames burst out from the explosion of shells; pillars of earth, water and entire trees flew upward; the earth trembled, and it seemed that nothing could withstand such a hurricane of fire. The impression was that not a single person would emerge unscathed from this hurricane of fire and iron,” wrote foreign correspondents.

The command, believing that it was demanding almost the impossible, asked the defenders of the fortress to hold out for at least 48 hours. The fortress stood for another six months. And our artillerymen during that terrible bombing they even managed to knock out two “Big Berthas”, poorly camouflaged by the enemy. At the same time, an ammunition depot was also blown up.

August 6, 1915 became a black day for the defenders of Osovets: the Germans used poison gases to destroy the garrison. They prepared the gas attack carefully, patiently waiting for the right wind. We deployed 30 gas batteries and several thousand cylinders. On August 6, at 4 a.m., a dark green fog of a mixture of chlorine and bromine flowed into Russian positions, reaching them in 5-10 minutes. A gas wave 12-15 meters high and 8 km wide penetrated to a depth of 20 km. The defenders of the fortress did not have gas masks.

"Everything alive on outdoors on the bridgehead of the fortress, he was poisoned to death,” recalled a participant in the defense. “All the greenery in the fortress and in the immediate area along the path of the gases was destroyed, the leaves on the trees turned yellow, curled up and fell off, the grass turned black and lay on the ground, the flower petals flew off. All copper objects on the fortress bridgehead - parts of guns and shells, washbasins, tanks, etc. - were covered with a thick green layer of chlorine oxide; food items stored without hermetically sealed meat, butter, lard, vegetables turned out to be poisoned and unsuitable for consumption.”

“The half-poisoned wandered back,” this is another author, “and, tormented by thirst, bent down to sources of water, but here the gases lingered in low places, and secondary poisoning led to death.”

The German artillery again opened massive fire, following the barrage of fire and the gas cloud, 14 Landwehr battalions moved to storm the Russian forward positions - and this is at least seven thousand infantrymen. On the front line, after the gas attack, barely more than a hundred defenders remained alive. The doomed fortress, it seemed, was already in German hands. But when the German chains approached the trenches, counterattacking Russian infantry fell on them from the thick green chlorine fog. The sight was terrifying: the soldiers walked into the bayonet area with their faces wrapped in rags, shaking with a terrible cough, literally spitting out pieces of their lungs onto their bloody tunics. These were the remnants of the 13th company of the 226th Zemlyansky infantry regiment, a little more than 60 people. But they plunged the enemy into such horror that the German infantrymen, not accepting the battle, rushed back, trampling each other and hanging on their own wire fences. And from the Russian batteries shrouded in chlorine clouds, what seemed to be already dead artillery began to fire at them. Several dozen half-dead Russian soldiers put three German infantry regiments to flight! World military art knew nothing like this. This battle will go down in history as the “attack of the dead.”

Russian troops nevertheless left Osovets, but later and by order of the command, when its defense lost its meaning. The evacuation of the fortress is also an example of heroism. Because everything had to be removed from the fortress at night, during the day the highway to Grodno was impassable: it was constantly bombed by German airplanes. But they did not leave the enemy with a cartridge, a shell, or even a can of canned food. Each gun was pulled on straps by 30-50 artillerymen or militiamen. On the night of August 24, 1915, Russian sappers blew up everything that had survived from German fire, and only a few days later the Germans decided to occupy the ruins.

In 1924, European newspapers wrote about a certain Russian soldier (his name, unfortunately, is not known) discovered by the Polish authorities in the Osowiec fortress. As it turned out, during the retreat, sappers bombarded the fortress’s underground warehouses with ammunition and food with targeted explosions. When the Polish officers went down to the basements, from the darkness they heard in Russian: “Stop! Who's coming?" The stranger turned out to be Russian. The sentry surrendered only after it was explained to him that the country he served was no longer there. For 9 years the soldier ate canned meat and condensed milk, losing track of time and adapting to existence in the dark. After he was taken out, he lost his sight from sunlight and was admitted to the hospital, after which he was transferred Soviet authorities. At this point his trace in history is lost.

Osovets Fortress

Osovets Fortress is an outpost fortress. She locked railway from Lak through Graevo to Bialystok when crossing this road over a bridge over the Bobr River, flowing in a wide and swampy valley. It consisted of a large central fort No. I, connected by a fence with water ditches to Fort III, and also had on the enemy’s right bank Fort II-Zarechny, covering the bridge. Downstream there was also a small Fort-Swedish, and an infantry position stretched to it from Fort III. The presence of Fort II on the right bank of the Bobr gave Osovets known meaning in the sense of allowing the possibility of playing not only a passive, but also an active role.

There were no other routes, except for the one blocked by the Osowiec fortress from East Prussia through the border town of Graev to the important railway junction in Bialystok, as a result of which the stubborn resistance of Osowiec, in the event of attacks, became especially important, since with the unreliable state of the 10th Army and the management of its operations, the right-flank army, which was to be attacked by Hindenburg, was revealed to be in order to first defeat it and then cover the rights. flank of the entire Russian front, the Germans could reach the communication of our center. But for this it was necessary to break the resistance that this army could provide on the middle Neman, with the support of the two fortresses of Kovno and Grodno. According to German sources, the difficulties associated with capturing these fortresses forced Hindenburg to extend his reach to the north through Bülow's 8th Army. Another way to interrupt rear communications was through the upper Narew and Bobr along the Lomza-Osowiec front to the Bialystok railway junction.

After the battles on December 25. and 16 Jan. on the line Johannisburg, Lisken, Vincent, part of the Russian forces (one division) retreated to Osovets, becoming part of its garrison, while parts of the 10th army that occupied Johannisburg, pressed by the enemy, exposed the station. Graevo, the still unfinished evacuation and the right flank of the left flank units of the army. The commandant of Osovets organized the Graevsky detachment from the garrison under the command. regiment. Kataev, who occupied Graevo, where he fortified himself in order to block the Shchuchin-Graevo-Graygorod highway, which the enemy could use for his movements along the front. From this day, January 30, the garrison began widely active work throughout the entire space from Graev to the Zarechny fort (25 versts), where a number of fortified positions were created, of which the Sosnenskaya position closest to the fortress was already the forefront and could receive support from the fortress’ heavy artillery . This stubborn struggle for the terrain in front managed to draw back significant German forces and force (due to the experience of the unsuccessful 1st bombardment in September 1914) to bring up to 68 heavy siege-type guns, including 16-8 dm., 16-12 dm. and 4-16 dm. Despite the insignificant bridgehead represented by the fortress, this second bombardment, launched on February 9. and lasted until the beginning of March, did not significantly affect the resistance of the fortress. Judging by the reports, here are the results achieved by the enemy within a month: all concrete buildings of a vital and combat nature were preserved, as a result of which the garrison located in the forts and bridgehead suffered negligible losses; All the efforts of the Germans to destroy (as Emperor Wilhelm, who arrived at the front, put it in one of his orders) the toy fortress within 10 days did not lead to the specified goal. Based on the results of the bombing, we can say with confidence that the Osovets fortress will withstand another bombardment of the same kind, during which the number of shells fired reached 80,000. Thus, the properly organized and skillfully conducted defense of Osovets (commandant art. General Brzhozovsky), in the presence of appropriately constructed concrete casemated structures, was not afraid of 42 cm mortars and 30.5 cm howitzers in opposition to the Belgian fortresses, but, like Verdun, confirmed that “long-term fortification in world war passed the exam." The description of the defense of Osovets (M. Svechnikov and V. Bunyakovsky) says: “Osovets was the first to debunk the prevailing belief about the action of German heavy artillery and proved that as long as the garrison is strong in spirit, nothing can force the surrender of the fortress.” Isn’t that what Ivangorod also showed? It must be added that the enemy did not fail to use asphyxiating gases, but he himself died from them (up to 1,000 people) and did not achieve success, due to the desperate counter-attacks of the garrison. His repeated assaults were repulsed with big losses, and attempts to bypass the fortress from the north and south were unsuccessful, timely prevented by the flank operations of the garrison, which extended its front beyond Beaver for almost 48 miles. Tenacious defense of cutting-edge rights. careful bridgehead, up to 12 versts deep, increased the strength of the frontal resistance of the fortress and created extremely favorable conditions for going on the offensive in extremely important direction on Graevo-Lyk, in the gap between enemy groups operating against the armies neighboring the fortress. Osovets covered the 50-verst interval between the armies of the front and provided them with support under the skillful and courageous leadership of the commandant, General. (artilleryman) Brzhozovsky, who replaced the gene. Shulman, who equally valiantly fought off the first 4-day assault in 1914. By order of the Chief. command Aug 9 1915 at 11 o'clock. At night, the garrison left the fortress, forming a consolidated corps under the command of the same general. Brozhozovsky, having destroyed the fortress, and took up a field position 13 versts to the east.

The defense of the “toy fortress” of Osovets is as brilliant as the French defense of the large maneuverable fortress of Verdun, and the role it played in tactical and strategic relations justified, in turn, the costs incurred for the construction and the sacrifices made by its valiant garrison.

The feat of Vladimir Kotlinsky, who led the “attack of the dead”

The described attack was led by Vladimir Karpovich Kotlinsky. He was born on July 10, 1894, a native of the peasants of the Minsk province, and later lived in Pskov. During World War I, he was a second lieutenant in the corps of military topographers, assigned to the 226th Zemlyansky Regiment of the 1st Brigade of the 57th Infantry Division of the Russian Imperial Army. Died at the age of 21 during a “dead attack.”
Awarded:
Being an ensign: Order of St. Stanislaus with swords and bow 3rd class, Order of St. Anne 3rd and 4th class.
Being a second lieutenant: the Order of St. Stanislaus with swords and bow, 2nd degree, the Order of St. George, 4th degree (posthumously).

This is what the newspaper “Pskov Life” wrote, No. 1104, dated November 28, 1915, about the “attack of the dead”:

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