Empire on fire. First year of war 1914

Student Golovin Alexei Mikhailovich externally passed the final exam for the full course of applied mathematics at Moscow University and the other day received a diploma from this very institution. Actually, this was nothing out of the ordinary, except for one circumstance, the young man who graduated from the University was nineteen years old and this promising student managed to finish his studies in three years instead of the prescribed five. Its teachers, associate professors and professors could not help but rejoice at a promising student who grasps any educational material on the fly, and predicted a brilliant scientific career in the future.

Yesterday, the young child prodigy himself was full of plans for his scientific career, and really hurt his scientific work was quite impressive, and most importantly promising.

And just half an hour ago, everything collapsed. No, nothing has changed in his scientific career, his desire to do something at all has changed, the young man wandered the streets of a noisy city in a depressed state, not noticing anything around him. Despair settled in his soul.

He was unceremoniously expelled from the house of a professor, his beloved teacher, and for that because he dared to speak negatively about the war. No, he was not a pacifist, and wholeheartedly wished victory for Russian weapons, but he intuitively felt that this war would end for Russia in great disaster, which he expressed in public. As a result, he was accused of cowardice and almost of betrayal of the Fatherland. And most importantly, his first and so far only love, Verochka, the daughter of a professor, scornfully expressed to him that while Russian people pour blood for him, he dares to talk about the defeat in the Russian war. And made a contemptuous remark whether the German spy, Mr. Golovin, was really German.

His despair knew no bounds, shame and resentment prevented him from concentrating and pulling himself together, he wanted to scream, you people just didn’t understand me…

In the pocket of the student’s frock coat, a hand groped some kind of letter, it popped up in my head as an assistant professor Kislitsyn at the exit from the house slipped an envelope to him. Alex recalled the words of support of the associate professor, in the heat of the ears, that they say he believes in him and that they say Alex will prove that he is not a coward and not a traitor, but that he, his good friend, will do him a favor. Here is a letter of recommendation on the address envelope, upon presentation of this letter he will be helped to join the ranks of the defenders of the Fatherland.

So stop, all of a sudden, unexpectedly, as it always happened to him, insight and understanding came that he became a victim of intrigue. The whole picture has developed, well, what a fool he is. This associate professor has long and hopelessly courted Verochka. And today he actually provoked him into frankness about the war.From the very beginning, Alexei did not like the patriotic hat-making fervor permeating Russian society. And not once among his acquaintances he spoke critically about this, but today he was caught as a boy.

Well, the decision is made, I’m going to join the ranks of the defenders of the Fatherland, everything is better than being known as a coward. As the saying goes, I’ll put on the uniform of the imperial army. I’ll go to the professor’s house, then we’ll see what Verochka will say. But my answer will be unequivocal, I’m going to lay my head for Russia, let this patriot cheer…

Alexei did not think what would be said and made yesterday by his love, it became easier for him from the decision, and he somehow unexpectedly briskly walked to the specified address. Parting on the go with all his dreams, plans, thoughts, and his civil life yesterday, he even felt a kind of exciting feeling of imminent change.

The address indicated on the envelope turned out to be a public office on Kutuzovsky, where the draft commission was located on the ground floor. Captain Kovalchuk, who should have turned, turned out to be a short fat man, with a magnificent mustache and inexhaustible energy. The cabinet, on the door of which hung the sign “Authorized Staff Captain Kovalchuk”, was littered with folders in the corners and walls, which greatly reduced the living space for the cabinet owner. Not having time to close the door to the office, Alex almost at the threshold, faced headquarters captain, who surprisingly for his complexion dexterously jumped from the table and literally in a few rapid steps was next to the visitor.

“Well, sir, what have you come up with?”

Alex silently handed the envelope. Zhivchik energetically opened the envelope and delved into the contents of the letter.

– M-yes, and so darling, do you want to become a volunteer and defend the Fatherland with breastfeel? Well then, well, meritorious, meritorious. Let me take a look at your documents.

Alexei silently pulled out his passport and diploma from the inside pocket of his coat and handed it to the captain.

He took what was stretched out and slowly returned to the table and began to carefully study the submitted documents.

– You are kind, still too early in the army. You are nineteen, and they have been drafting into the army since twenty-one years old, and so, sir, dear Alexei Mikhailovich.

Finally, the head-captain gave a voice, while drumming his fingers thoughtfully on the table, and looking somewhere on the top of the visitor’s head.

– But on the other hand, if you can’t, but really want to, then why not, do you really want to?

Alexei, not giving a voice, nodded his head.

“I see, I see, my dear, it reads on your young face…”

What the master of the office read on the visitor’s face remained a mystery, as the staff captain was writing something energetically.

– well, sir, my young friend.

Having finished writing, he turned to Alexei.

– According to the decree of his Imperial Majesty of September 18 of this year, it is prescribed to organize a school of ensigns to replenish the junior officers and now they are enrolling in this school. Here is the direction for you, go to the specified address and become a cunker of this wonderful school, and do not thank my young hero.

At these words, he slipped Alexei his documents and another envelope, patted his shoulder, turned around and sat down at the table, paying no attention to the visitor.

Alexei could not even hear the retreat. Leaving the office, he was a little dumbfounded by the reception of the head-captain, turned the envelope, read the address and moved in the given direction.

In the evening of the same day, fatally tired, from all the events that had taken place, drastically changing the fate of Alexei, he finally reached the house. At school, giving instructions to the staff, leaving the passport in the same place, in return having received a document confirming that he is a cadet of the ensign school, signed in the journal, notifying that he should appear on the first of October at the indicated address, as well as passing The interview with staff captain Rotmistrov finally left for home, as it turned out he still had a week of peaceful life.

He was met at home by his aunts, excited by his long absence. He was an orphan, his parents were replaced by his two aunts, the younger sisters of his father and mother, who from his birth were engaged in his upbringing and did not cherish souls in his Aleshenka. Actually, they were his family.

Ironically, the two aunts had the same name, Maria Alekseevna, he was named after their fathers, and his grandfathers, and both were widows without their children, for this reason both gave their motherly love to him.

But on this their similarity ended, they were two opposites, both purely externally and in character. The eldest, the father’s sister, was of impressive size, strict and domineering. The widow of a merchant, with business acumen, but at the same time a devout one who established strict Orthodox orders in the house. She led all economic affairs in the family.The younger, the mother’s sister, was a classic Russian beauty, but she looked miniature against the background of the older one. The widow of a professor, an intellectual and a noblewoman who despised any boorish peasant, as she put it, in the heat of disputes with her elder aunt. With each other, they were constantly in no way disagree, but reconciled them, and even united tireless concern for their beloved boy. Moreover, this treasure of theirs constantly fell into any kind of trouble, due to its restlessness and curiosity.

And indeed, from early childhood, adventures constantly happened on the verge of life and death with Alexei. It’s not clear how it will fall out of the cradle, it will fall off the roof of the house, it will start to sink in the village pond, it will strike with lightning, then it will knock down a horse with a branch, or something extraordinary will happen.

From early childhood, his father was assigned an uncle, an old soldier and a former batman of his father, from the Cossacks, to look after and preserve the child, as well as to educate the male character in his son. Here old Mikhalych constantly got him out of nowhere, either from a pond or from under a horse, and at the same time, all military Cossack sciences taught the young man how his father punished his uncle. At first, the aunts were outraged by this approach to raising a child on the part of the father, but over time, everything was settled, because they saw that the old soldier protects the little one and treats him with all care, so Mikhalych became an integral part of the family.

It was in such a sincere and loving triangle of aunts and uncles that he was brought up, absorbing everything that these three extraordinary people gave in their own way, emotional care, a craving for science and love.

Maria Alekseevna the elder instilled faith in the Orthodox and business acumen, Maria Alekseevna the younger revealed her abilities for languages and physical and mathematical sciences, as well as a general interest in scientific work, Mikhalych, brought up a physically strong body and taught the Plastun Cossack combat skills, which are an integral part and included the ability to survive in critical conditions, on the verge of life and death.

From the news that they heard their beloved child entered the school of ensigns, at first they fell into a stupor. Maria Alekseevna the eldest was the first to come to her senses, crying a little, she immediately rushed to prepare the boy, as she put it, for war. Maria Alekseevna, the youngest, first clutching his hand, demanded that these stupid things be thrown out of her head, otherwise Russia would lose the great scientist, but then, realizing that everything was useless, she went into the living room, perched on the couch, sobbed into the voice, lamenting: “to whom you are leaving us, “like an ordinary Russian woman.Alexei, standing in the middle of the living room, was simply at a loss from such a reaction from his younger aunt, who had never seen a single tear in her life. Old Mikhalych helped out as always. Slightly gaining by the shoulders, saying: “Let Lexei go, let Marya Lexevna go out, it’s such a woman’s business to escort the Cossack to the war,” he led him to his room.

September frontline reports

September 1, 1914 The Allies liberate Reims.

September 2, 1914 In the Pacific, in German New Guinea, German units surrender to British troops. The battle on En. Allies attack the German position. The infantry begins to dig trenches.

September 4, 1914 “Running to the sea” was called the operation, when the Allied and German troops tried to get around each other from the flank. As a result, the Western Front stretched from the North Sea through Belgium and France to Switzerland.

September 5, 1914 The August operation (first) began – an offensive operation in the area of the Polish city of Augustow of the Russian armies against the German army.

September 14, 1914 Russian troops cross the Carpathians and invade Hungary. The city of Douala in Cameroon, Germany, is captured by British and French troops.

September 15, 1914 The first battle for Warsaw – Warsaw-Ivangorod operation. German and Austrian troops attack Russian positions from the south, but are forced to retreat.

September 18, 1914 Turkey closes the Dardanelles for passage of ships.

September 26, 1914 Antwerp captured by German troops.

September 29, 1914 On the Western Front, the first battle begins at Ypres, Belgium, during which the German units try to break through the defenses of the Allied forces.

The first days of study seemed to Alexei vain and stupid.

The future junior commanders of the army were taught the basics of military science in accordance with the realities of modern warfare: small arms, tactics, trenches, machine guns, topography, and communications services.

They also studied military regulations, the foundations of army law and administrative law, and underwent combat training and field training.

The usual daily routine at the ensign school was as follows:

at 6 in the morning the rise, given by a trumpeter or a bugler;

from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. time for putting oneself in order, examination and morning prayer;

at 7 o’clock morning tea;

from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. scheduled classes;

at 12 o’clock breakfast;

from 12.30 to 16.30 drill on schedule;

at 16.30 lunch;

from 17 to 18.30 personal time;

from 6.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. preparation of assignments and lectures given by the next day;

at 20.00 evening tea;

at 20.30 the evening summons and roll call;

at 21.00 evening dawn and lights out.

No classes were held on Sundays and during Orthodox holidays; these days, cadets from ensign schools could get fired in the city.

The school was located in the barracks of the 5th grenadier Kiev regiment. Nearby, in the barracks of the 6th Grenadier Tauride Regiment, stood the 56th and 55th reserve battalions, which replenished the Grenadier Corps.

The barracks were old, still Catherine’s times. But there was no tightness. There were bedrooms, separate classes for classes. On the basement floor there was a dining room, kitchen, warehouses and a restroom.

The heating was an “Amos stove”. In the basement were four huge stoves. From them, pipes were laid in the walls along which hot air came from these stoves. In each room there were one, and sometimes more, depending on the size of the room, the so-called “stranglers”, through which hot air penetrated into the room. These stoves devoured a lot of firewood, but in the barracks it was always very warm. The stoves were downstairs in the basement, in a long corridor. It was always dark there, day and night.

The officers were from military officers. Most of them were disabled. There were St. George cavaliers. But the disability of the officers was such that they did not prevent them from engaging in the formation in the rear. For example, Captain Sergeyev was wounded in the heel of his right foot and could not step on this heel. Staff captain Manchurov was wounded in the left hand, but could do anything with one right hand. Lieutenant Lviv. the left arm did not bend from being wounded in the elbow, etc., all in the same spirit.

Upon leaving the bedroom, as usual unexpectedly, Alexei was rather sensitively slapped on the back. – What are you thinking about, comrade Golovin? Did you remember Vera again? Look, I’ll report to my superiors that the gunker Golovin has a heart wound and you will be expelled from school to be injured and given disability.

Well, who could it be, of course, Sashka Boguslavsky, dunce and joker, Alexei’s friend at the University. Alexey encountered him on the first day of school. Their studies at the university connected, or rather, several studies, how many exams. Sasha also passed exams outside the plan, or rather, constantly, retook something, which Alexey constantly helped him with.

As it turned out, this restless adventurer, having knocked himself out of the school of ensigns, turned up at the university, and in the wake of universal patriotism, managed to pass all his debts and get a diploma in a few days, which was completely unlikely, but not for this junkie.

And now he was smiling pretty, slyly squinting, obviously plotting another adventure.

– But will not my kind friend on Sunday agree to keep company with me and two charming young ladies? So to speak, my young ladies are your finances. I guarantee we will pull out your heart splinter, and the future officer of the imperial army will be completely healed of heart wounds, which means that he is ready to defend the homeland.

Alexey did not have time to answer how the trumpet for the morning building sounded, bustle started in the school corridors, the cadets in a hurry put on their overcoats, belted their belts and ran out into the yard for construction, Alexei was seized by general movement, he only waved his hand and ran into the yard.

A new day of school began.

After the construction of the half-platoon, the cadet Golovin went to the topography class, where various scales and sizes of maps were hung on the walls, several dozen cadets at the tables, listened to the introductory course on topography, sketching and memorizing various topographic notations.

At noon after breakfast, when building on combat training, Sashka, again appearing like a devil from a snuff-box, once again slapping on the back, asked what would be the solution to his wonderful proposal. And again, the whistles of the fathers-commanders interrupted the conversation.