Konstantin Rokossovsky

Konstantin Rokossovsky
Konstantin Rokossovsky in 1962
Leader of the Ural Military District Incumbent
Head of Government	Pavel Batov
Personal details
Native name	Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky
Date of birth	December 21st, 1896
Place of birth	Warsaw, Russian Empire
Age at start	65 years old
Nationality	Russian
Role	Starting leader of the Ural Military District
Political party	Ural Committee of State Salvation
Ideology	Military Junta

Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky (Russian: Константин Константинович (Ксаверьевич) Рокоссовский; Polish: Konstanty Rokossowski; born 21 December 1896) is a Soviet and Polish officer who became rose to the rank of General.

The leader of the 3rd Soviet Army after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Rokossovsky would lead his army into West Siberia, ending up in the West Siberian People's Republic. As part of the West Russian War, Rokossovsky would lead West Siberian troops into battle.

However, due to the factionalism that arose from the West Russian War, Rokovssovky would find in conflict with Lazar Kaganovich, breaking away from the People's Republic with his 3rd Army and taking control of Sverdlovsk

It was here that a provisional military government would be founded. Despite his disdain towards his former leadership in Tyumen, Rokossovsky never lost his loyalty to the motherland, even if it was driven by a strong and impartial military, guided in the historical strengths of Russian and Soviet art of war, serving the workers of Russia. Despite the use of Soviet iconography and titles, the junta isn't awfully concerned with continuing socialist policies.

However, the harsh service and old age has taken its toll on Rokossovsky's health and he knows that he may not live long enough to see the Red Army marching through Moscow again, he can count on his close friends and military allies to continue his vision of reuniting the motherland. Pavel Batov, a close friend and military aide to Rokossovsky, is the individual who will assume leadership of the 3rd Army once Rokossovsky dies.

In Game Description

Unlike many other men, Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky stayed faithful to the Soviet Motherland no matter what, even to this very day. Being born in the days of the Tsar to a family of Polish gentry, he had to suffer a very poor life as a child. It was only logical that he turned to the Bolshevik Party, and soon became one of the most distinguished and well-known commanders of the Soviet Union, a distinguished gentleman and officer whose military record was nothing short of brilliant. After two decades of serving in the Red Army, the house of cards would crumble, the USSR would collapse, and Rokossovsky would have to adapt to a completely new environment. As his 3rd Army fled from the invading Germans and reached the Urals, he was welcomed with open arms by Lazar Kaganovich, and so he joined the West Siberian People's Republic. However, the alliance of Kaganovich and his generals, full of distrust and bitter competition, was a fragile one, and would inevitably fall apart. Western Siberia would battle for its survival, against all odds, as the Germans continued their relentless bombing raids and rifts between its top leaders and generals only grew and grew, to a point when they could not be mended. Seeing the People's Republic was a sinking ship as Karbyshev seized the city of Omsk and Kaganovich showing its disdain by his inaction, Rokossovsky would quickly gather his 3rd Army in the city of Sverdlovsk to form a provisional military government led by himself and backed by a formidable force. While disillusioned with his former party superiors in Tyumen, Rokossovsky has not abandoned his cause of the Soviet Union reunification, even if it will be driven by its loyal and impartial military, born and taught in the best traditions of the Russian and Soviet art of war and serving the working people above the bureaucrats. The harsh service and old age took a considerable toll on Marshal Rokossovsky's health, but his resolve remains persistent in the desperate times. Even if he won't live to see the Red Army marching in the Red Square once again, he can rely on the old friends and comrades to continue his mission with dignity.

Biography

Early Life

Konstanty Ksaweriewicz Rokossowski (Konstantin Ksaveryevich Rokossovsky) was born in Velikiye Luki; or in Warsaw, then part of Congress Poland under Russian rule; or in the village of Telekhany, Brest Region in modern Belarus (then the Russian Empire). His family had moved to Warsaw following the appointment of his father as the inspector of the Warsaw Railways. The Rokossovsky family were members of the Polish nobility (of the Oksza coat of arms), and over generations had produced many cavalry officers. But Konstantin's father, Ksawery Wojciech Rokossowski, worked as a civil railway official in the Russian Empire. His mother, Antonina Ovsyannikova, was Russian and a teacher.

Orphaned at 14, Rokossovsky started working in a stocking factory. In 1911, at age 15, he became an apprentice stonemason. When Rokossovsky enlisted in the Imperial Russian Army at the start of the First World War, his patronymic Ksaveryevich was Russified to Konstantinovich. This was easier for his fellow troops in the5th Kargopol Dragoon Regiment to pronounce his name.

World War 1 and Russian Civil War

On joining the Kargopolsky 5th Dragoon Regiment, Rokossovsky soon showed himself a talented soldier and leader.

On August 2, 1914, 18-year-old (lying on the enlistment form as a 20-year-old) Konstantin volunteered for the 5th Dragoon Kargopol Regiment of the 5th Cavalry Division of the 12th Army and was enrolled in the 6th Squadron, commanded by Captain Zankovich. 6 days later, on August 8, 1914, Rokossovsky distinguished himself while conducting mounted reconnaissance near the village of Yastrzhem, for which he was awarded the St. George Cross, 4th Class and promoted to corporal.

He served in the cavalry throughout the war, ending with the rank of a junior non-commissioned officer. He was wounded twice during the war and awarded the Cross of St George.

On August 24, 1917, he was presented and on November 21 (December 4), 1917, he was awarded the St. George Medal, II degree. The dragoons elected Rokossovsky to the squadron and then to the regimental committee, which decided issues of the regiment. In October 1917, he was elected to the regimental St. George's holders Duma and served as secretary there.

In 1917, he supported the Bolshevik Party In December 1917, Konstantin Rokossovsky, Adolf Yushkevich and other dragoons joined the Red Guard, it was here he and fellow Kargopol dragoons would form the Kargopol Red Guard detachment.. At the end of December, the Kargopol regiment was transferred to the rear to the east. On April 7, 1918, at the Dikaya station , west of Vologda, the 5th Kargopol Dragoon Regiment was disbanded.

From November 1917 to February 1918, as part of the Kargopol Red Guard cavalry detachment, as an assistant to the detachment chief, Rokossovsky participated in the suppression of counter-revolutionary uprisings in the area of ​​Vologda, Buym Galich and Soligalich. From February to July 1918, he took part in the suppression of anarchist and Cossack counter-revolutionary protests in Slobozhanshchina (in the area of ​​Kharkov , Unecha , Mikhailovsky Farm) and in the Karachev  - Bryansk area .

In July 1918, still in the calvary detachment, he was transferred to the Eastern Front near the city of Yekaterinburg in the Perm province and participated in battles with the White Guards and Czechoslovaks near the Kuzino station, Yekaterinburg, Shamary and Shalya stations until August 1918. Since August 1918, the detachment was reorganized into the 1st Ural Cavalry Regiment named after Volodarsky, Rokossovsky was appointed commander of the 1st squadron.

On March 7, 1919, he joined the Communist party of Bolsheviks as an official party member.

Initially the commander of a squadron , he would rise through the ranks to command a separate division . On August 3, 1919, Rokossovsky's 2nd Ural Cavalry Division took part in the capture of the city of Shadrinsk , then the cavalry division moved along with other units of the 30th Infantry Division through the Kurgan district of the Tobolsk province to the village of Emurtlinskoye, Yalutorovsky district, Tobolsk province  and further to the village of Chastoozerye, however due to a White counterattack, the 2nd Ural Cavalry Division retreated to the village of Shelepovo, Kurgan district.

Throughout September 1919, Rokossovsky's Division was on the defensive, covering the retreat of the Red Army. By October, the 2nd Ural Cavalry Division had only consisted of 16 commanders and 437 soldiers.

On October 14, 1919, the 30th Division went on the offensive, under this offensive orders, the 2nd Ural Cavalry Division of Rokossovsky and the 264th Verkhneuralsky Regiment attacked the village of Borovskoye , Kurgan district, from the village of Romanovskoye and the village of Pesyano, but stopped their advance 5-6 kilometers south of the village. Throughout October, the 2nd Ural Cavalry Division would capture White-controlled villages.

On November 4, 1919, leading a group of 30 horsemen in a battle near the village of Vakorinsk in Ishim Uyezd, Rokossovsky led a charge that broke through the White infantry chain and captured their artillery battery. On November 7, 1919, just south of Mangut station in Tobolsk, Rokossovsky fought with the commander of the 15th Omsk Siberian Rifle Division of Admiral Kolchak’s army, which Rokossovsky killed. although he himself was wounded in the shoulder

For these action in 1919, Rokossovsky received Soviet Russia's highest military decoration at the time, the Order of the Red Banner.

On January 23, 1920, Rokossovsky was appointed commander of the 30th Cavalry Regiment of the 30th Infantry Division. In May, the regiment was moved to the Russian-Mongolian border in Transbaikalia. On August 18, 1920, he was transferred to the post of commander of the 35th Cavalry Regiment of the 35th Infantry Division.

Until June 1921, the 35th Cavalry Regiment did not participate in battles, however in the summer of 1921, commanding the 35th Cavalry Regiment, in the battle near Troitskosavsk he defeated the 2nd Brigade of General Boris Petrovich Rezukhin under Baron R. F. von Ungern-Sternberg and in a subsequent battle he was seriously wounded. For this battle, Rokossovsky was awarded the second Order of the Red Banner. In 1921, he commanded the 35th Independent Cavalry Regiment stationed in Irkutsk and played an important role in bringing Damdin Sükhbaatar, the founder of the Mongolian People's Republic, to power. By October 1921, he was transferred to commander of the 3rd brigade of the 5th Kuban Cavalry Division .

In October 1922, with the reorganization of the 5th Kuban Cavalry Division into the 5th sSparate Kuban Cavalry Brigade, he was voluntarily appointed to the post of commander of the 27th Cavalry Regiment of the same brigade.

Inter-War Era

In 1924 and 1925 Rokossovsky attended the Leningrad Higher Cavalry School, where he first met Georgy Zhukov. He was reassigned to Mongolia, where he was a trainer for the Mongolian People's Army. Soon after, while serving in the Special Red Banner Far Eastern Army under Vasily Blyukher, he took part in the Russo-Chinese Eastern Railroad War of 1929–1930. The Soviet Union intervened to return the Chinese Eastern Railway to joint Chinese and Soviet administration, after Chinese warlord Zhang Xueliang of the Republic of China attempted to seize complete control of the railway.

It was in the early 1930s that Rokossovsky's military career first became closely intertwined those of Semyon Timoshenko and Georgy Zhukov: when Rokossovsky was the commander of the 7th Samara Cavalry Division, Timoshenko served as his superior Corps commander and Zhukov was a brigade commander under Rokossovsky in his division. Both became principal actors in his life during World War II, where he served directly under each at different times. Rokossovsky was noted for having a rivalry with Zhukov throughout World War II. He commented on Zhukov's character in an official report :

Has a strong will. Decisive and firm. Often demonstrates initiative and skillfully applies it. Disciplined. Demanding and persistent in his demands. A somewhat ungracious and not sufficiently sympathetic person. Rather stubborn. Painfully proud. In professional terms well trained. Broadly experienced as a military leader... Absolutely cannot be used in staff or teaching jobs because constitutionally he hates them.

Rokossovsky was among the first to realize the potential of armoured assault. He was an early supporter of the creation of a strong armoured corps for the Red Army, as championed by Marshal Mikhail Tukhachevsky in his theory of "deep operations".