Kazan Operation

{{Eastern Front of Russian Civil War}} [[Image:Kazan1918 08 eng.jpg|thumb|250px|Fronts in August 1918, Kazan outskirts]] {{Cleanup|date=January 2008}} '''Kazan Operation''' was the [[Red Army]]'s offensive (5–10 September 1918) against the [[Czechoslovak Legion]] and the [[People Army of Komuch]] during the [[Russian Civil War]]. == Background == In August 1918, the Whites [[Capturing Kazan by White Army|occupied Kazan]]. Bolshevik forces were defeated, and they dispersed to Kazan's neighborhood. The Whites shot the rest of Bolsheviks in the city. At the beginning of the operation, the Reds' disposition was as follows: To the west of Kazan were the Fifth Army of the Eastern Front under [[Peter Slaven]] and the [[Volga Flotilla]] under [[Fyodor Raskolnikov]]; to the east of Kazan was the [[Arsk]] group of the Second Army under [[Woldemar Azin]]. They opposed the Czechoslovak legion and KomUch People's Army under A. P. Stepanov. == The battle == On September 7, the Right Bank Group of the Fifth Army with the flotilla's backing reached the right (west) bank of Volga and shelled Kazan from the commanding position of Uslan Hill. The Left Bank Group reached the mouth of the [[Kazanka River]]. That day the Arsk Group took Kinderle and Klyki villages to the east of Kazan. On September 9, sailors and landed marksmen under [[Nikolay Markin]] took the beachhead at the western part of Kazan. On that day the Left Bank Group and Arsk Group joined and laid siege to part of Kazan. On September 10, after storming the city from three directions, Red Army troops took control of Kazan. The majority of Whites managed to sail away via the Volga. == Aftermath == The capturing of Kazan and Simbirsk by the Red Army made continued strategic offensives westwards possible for the Red Army. == Sources == * Н.Е.Какурин, И.И.Вацетис "Гражданская война. 1918-1921" (N.E.Kakurin, [[Jukums Vācietis|I.I.Vacietis]] "Civil War. 1918-1921") - Sankt-Peterburg, "Polygon" Publishing House, 2002. ISBN 5-89173-150-9 {{coord missing|Russia}}