Maid of Baikal: A Novel of the Russian Civil War

Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, commander of the Caucasus Volunteer Army, captured Tsaritsyn from the Reds in early July, after a hard-fought battle in which British-supplied tanks and British volunteer crews tore into the Red barricades and opened gaps for Cossack cavalry to pour through. Soon after joining Wrangel in the captured city, General Denikin issued his historic Moscow Directive, in which he proposed a three-pronged offensive to take Moscow, to be coordinated between the AFSR, Kolchak’s Siberian Army, and General Yudenich’s Northwestern Army. The directive also explicitly recognized Admiral Kolchak as the Supreme Ruler of non-Bolshevik Russia and as Commander in Chief of all White Russian forces.

Basking in the glow of the victory at Tsaritsyn and Denikin’s pledge of allegiance, Kolchak authorized Tolstov and the Maid to join Wrangel’s forces in advancing further up the Volga. Tolstov’s Cossack cavalry moved immediately along the river’s east bank to guard Wrangel’s right flank while the Baron pressed north toward Saratov.

In late July, Tolstov entered Nikolayevsk unopposed, while Wrangel did the same across the river at Kamyshin, roughly halfway from Tsaritsyn to Saratov. By now, the reorganized Siberian Southern Army, newly re-equipped with British-supplied heavy weapons, had cleared a path directly across the steppe from Uralsk through Yershov and Pugachyov to the outskirts of Saratov, where it connected with Zhanna’s brigade and advance elements of Wrangel’s army. The representatives of Denikin and Kolchak celebrated their historic linkup with an impromptu banquet and made plans for a joint attack on the city.

The attack on Saratov commenced within a week. With her typical audacity, Zhanna sent a regiment across the river by night on rafts and barges and whatever other vessels her men could find, forcing a bridgehead on the west bank of the Volga a short distance north of Saratov. By controlling vital roads and rail lines, as well as river traffic, she succeeded in cutting off not only the Red defenders’ supply lines, but also their escape route to the north. The ensuing battle, fought on two fronts, was bloody and swift, with the Whites capturing Saratov at the end of the second day.

The battle also strengthened the Maid’s reputation for being either guided by God or blessed with endless good luck. In one incident, Zhanna advanced on horseback toward an entrenched enemy position but was not fired upon. Sensing something amiss, she warned the horsemen behind her against a Red counterattack from the rear. The Cossacks galloped a hasty retreat and averted disaster when a squadron of Red cavalry suddenly emerged from a sunken balka, minutes too late to surprise them.

Another time, while the Maid and Tolstov were conducting a troop inspection, she took his hand and attempted to lead him forward.

“By my whip, what’s gotten into you, girl?” he challenged as he pulled his hand free.

In response she raised a finger and pointed to a distant hill.

“If you don’t move away from that spot, general, an artillery shell from the enemy battery behind that hill will surely find you. Come, let’s end the inspection and dismiss the troops right away.”

Tolstov did as he was told and sent the troops away. But no sooner had he and Zhanna left the scene than they heard an explosion behind them. They turned around to look. As the Maid had predicted, a shell from an enemy battery had found another Cossack officer there and killed him on the spot.

Despite her reputation for divine assistance, the Maid’s victory at Saratov did not result from God’s aid alone. In a report transmitted to Omsk soon after the battle, one of Wrangel’s staff officers commented that AFSR commanders who participated in the attack had been amazed at Zhanna’s prudence and clear-sightedness throughout the engagement. In drawing up her regiments for battle, deploying the artillery, and in leading the attack, she had acted as skillfully as a combat officer with a lifetime of experience.

As it turned out, the capture of Saratov laid the foundation for other important White successes in the days ahead. While the fighting raged at Saratov, General Vladimir May-Mayevski, located some seven hundred versts to the west, led the AFSR along the rail lines north from Kharkov, which he had taken in late May, toward Kursk. At the same time, General Andrei Shkuro’s Kuban[39] Cossack cavalry advanced northward toward Yekaterinoslav and Voronezh.