YUDENITCH AND HIS MEN.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3314, 18 October 1919, Page 5

YUDENITCH AND HIS MEN.

A. MAN OF IRON WILL. . A correspondent, writing to the Times, in August,-described General. Yundcnitch as one of the most remarkable personalities in the Russian Army. “His -steey_—~grey_.. penetrating eyes,” he wrote, “may be compared with those of Marshal Foch. He is endowed with tremendous s-tren_gth 10f chalracter, and has a ivfll of iron. In . military operations Yudenditch is methodical and persistent. His talcntsof organisation, his self-control, and perfect calm in the midst of difiicult fighting conditions are remarkable. “An episode in -the Caucasian campaign speaksvfor itself. In 19;-l the situation at on_e moment was regarded as hopeless. The iiront was broken, and the troops, demoralised, were in full retreat. Enver Pasha, with superior forces, was advancing towards Sara-k-amyish; other enemy forces threatened; the Kurds had u-evolted in all the Kars region; Tiflis was evacuated. At this critical moment General Yudenitch, with small forces, fought his way to the Saramysh bridge, where_ he stopped a Cossack regfirnenft and-a reserve battalion, andat the head of these forces got'hold of the bridge. With the help of a thousand’ Cossacks,‘ during the whole day he stemmed the flood of Enve-r Pasha’s corps. On the following day General I’re”_i°i"valsl{_v came to his assistance with Cossack/troops, andxthe battle endedwin Ath‘e§A_'g°orl‘J_p]‘et._e defeat of the advanced Turkish" forces. (‘ln the hotel at Helsingfors which he used‘as«headquarters,. sitting at his little able in his little‘ room, General Yudenitch spoke of the recent tori-tr of inspection at the front. lTl_l_e’ general has changed ,but lit_tle;_still_,t'he same keen, searching eyes, the same jolly. smile that flashes out and lights 'np"his whole face. In this polygot hotel, with not a few spies and agents of Germans and Bolsheviks, his aide-de-camp in the next room has to be constantly on the look-out to head off stray callers, or the possibility of greater danger. But General Yudenitch, in a loose suit of sober black, is genial and patient. “‘Yes,’ he says, ‘it is a diflicult life’; then, with a hean-ty laugh, he puts annoyances. behind liirn. ‘There’ is,’ he goes on, ‘a remarkably high spirit among the "men, and quite exceptionally good relations between them and the oiiicers. During my recent tour they rffizbeivcd me very well.’ General Yudenitch, when he says that he was well received, describes what a less habitually mo'des2t man Would speak of as a tremendous ovation, ‘What is particularly gratifying is the popularity of the an-mywith the civilian population. I found evidence of it: wherever I went.’ ' 7

“ ‘Our food‘? Yes. we are all right for food now, thanks to the eifofts of the Allies; and The'American ofiicers are supervising the distribution of food to the civilian population. With military suppllies fit is unfoirtunately a. diifcrent story, and. I cannot say the position in thiic respect is satsifactory. The Bolsheviks, on the contrary, are ex. tremely well supplied with shells and use them. lavishly, most lavishly. They are still drawing upon the old stores, for at the beginning of 1917 an enormous reserve of Shells had been etreated, and the arniy was splendidly providecl. Besides, up till recently, the War factories werc going on _working‘, and had an estimated capacity of output of 25 million shells a month_ “_‘My pleasant. recollection is perhaps of the Sunday that I spent at Pskoff——it is a. pretty town and has a fine ancient church. My staff‘ and I went to church, and there was such a crowd to welcome us that we could havrdly get through. they all pressed round us so, wanting to thank us and touch us. There were one or two Who were actually squeezed out! Yes, that was real Russia!’ ” hp