ATTACK OF THE DEAD MEN
War.
Terrible War. Women become widows and children orphans. Wars are filled with action, drama, and even harder to believe stories. Throughout history, many strange events took place during battles. Some of these tales will one day be seen as myths rather than recollections of true events. That is why it is important to keep these stories alive so that the memories of the soldiers never fade away, and that their remembrance is never forgotten. This story in particular is of one of those hard-to-believe events that took place all the way back on August 6th, 1915 at Osowiec Fortress in the Russian Empire. This is a tale fit for Halloween; this is the Attack of the Dead Men!
The Great Retreat was a massive offensive launched by the Germans and their Austro-Hungarian allies. Much to their dismay, the Russians were very ill-equipped during this offensive. Even though the Russians had superior firepower, the Germans broke the Russian lines and started diminishing them all over the Eastern Front. As expected, the Russian troops were ordered to retreat, and save whoever remained lucky enough to be spared. While the Russians did so, they needed a rearguard- soldiers who protect the retreat at the rear of the army. It is rather cardinal to note that Rearguard missions were mostly suicide missions. To prevent mass loss of life, these intuitive soldiers sometimes hid in forts which were built across the war field spectrum. Believing they would revolutionize the war, Russian troops decided to build massive fortresses with large guns which would be manned around areas consisting of major infrastructure such as roads, railways, waterways etc. It proved incredibly difficult to simply evade these forts, so when they were bypassed, the German commanders would raise morale.
The stage now set for one of the most famous battles of the Great War, with Russians manning Osowiec Fortress in Osowiec-Twierdza, the time had arrived. In early August 1915, the Russians were in full retreat. The German oppositions were attacking with Russians defending, naturally. Germany was led by Field Marshall Paul von-Hindenburg, and Russia by Junior Lieutenant Vladimir Karpovich Kotlinsky. At the time, unfortunately, he was the highest ranking officer alive within the fortress. At this point in the story, the telling of a Russian soldier, Nikolai Bazdugan, begins.
Nikolai was an ordinary farmer with a wife and young son before he entered the war. He had no combat experience before the war had started, and was quite the compassionate man. Nikolai, to his moral credit, found it hard to seek revenge against anyone, which raised speculation whether his character would endure war. Nikolai served as a regular at Osowiec fortress, for he had defended the fort twice before. The first time, he protected the fort in September of 1914. He had helped defend the fortress from an appalling 40 infantry battalions of the German 8th Army. The Germans were closing in on the 21st of September, however, a few days later, Russian artillery repelled a German assault. The second time was from February to March of 1915- a few months before the third battle. Germans attacked the fortress, this time to cut the railway line between Warsaw and Bialystok. After heavy bombardment, the German infantry attack was repelled once again. It was now time for Russia to repel another assault on the impenetrable fortress.
Nikolai splashes water over his face. His beard trimmings lie scattered around him. He grabs the towel that hangs next to the small cracked mirror. He has just heard that the Germans will attack them again- and soon. He was still recovering from the second battle where he had cut open his hand. He grabs a flask of water and exits his quarters, makes his way through the muddy ground of the trenches towards the medical encampment where his friend, Dmitri, is getting treatment from the nurses. A few minutes prior to this moment, he heard that Dmitri injured himself on a ladder. The fellow soldier has been by his side since the start of the war, taking on the role of his mentor for both the previous battles at the Osowiec Fortress. During the first battle, Dmitri saved his life and during the second, he saved Dmitri’s in return. The cut on Nikolai’s hand was reminder enough.
“Where is Dmitri?” Nikolai asks one of the nurses as she walks past him.
“In the tent,” she replies, “he has an injured leg from falling off a ladder he used to look at the Germans with his binoculars.”
“Spasibo!”
Nikolai continues on the planks that were laid out for the injured to be brought into the encampment.
“There’s my guy!” Dmitri shouts from inside the tent as Nikolai stops just outside it.
His comrade’s smile warms Nikolai’s heart. Dmitri was an old man who had served the empire for years before the Great War. Nikolai smiles back at his comrade and opens his arms to embrace him. The two of them lengthen and cherish the contact as they laugh in a mutual understanding.
“What the hell were you doing on a ladder with binoculars?” Nikolai laughs.
“Spying on the Krauts, what else? Can’t be too careful.”
Nikolai huffs a laugh through his nose. He’s never seen the morale of an injured man this elevated before.
“Wish I hadn’t because I nearly shat myself,” adds Dmitri in a tone only he can master.
“Is that why you fell off the ladder?” This time, Nikolai inspects Dmitri’s physical state.
“Da! Saw one Kraut with a mask on- was quite unexpected.”
“Wait, what?”
“The Kraut made me almost shit myself. Those big mask eyes looked my way, and I got such a fright that I fell off the ladder.”
“A German wore a gas mask?” Nikolai must not have heard correctly.
“Da! Scared the shit out of me.”
“I have to go,” Nikolai says in a panic.
Germans wearing gas masks only means one thing: a chemical attack.
Nikolai runs back to the trenches towards Junior Lieutenant Vladimir Karpovich Kotlinsky’s quarters.
“Come in,” Lieutenant Kotlinsky’s voice rings as he hears the knock on wood.
“Lieutenant Kotlinsky, sir!” Nikolai salutes, which Lieutenant Kotlinsky returns.
“What brings you here, Lance Corporal Bazdugan?”
“I bear news from Lance Corporal Smirnov. We might know how the Germans will attack us in their third bout.”
“Let me hear.”
“While looking through a pair of binoculars, Lance Corporal Smirnov spotted a Kraut.”
“What about Smirnov spotting a German through binoculars makes you think you know how they will attack us? I only want facts because this is serious.”
“The Kraut wore a mask. A gas mask.” The air around them goes cold as the words finally leave Nikolai’s mouth.
Lieutenant Kotlinsky’s jaw drops, and Nikolai feels a spasm of unease because of the Lieutenant’s detestation of chemical warfare.
“Call all my men to the open space in the trenches. I need to talk to everyone.” A clear, non-negotiable command.
“Do you think they will do it? The Germans, I mean.”
“Do what? Gas us to death to capture this fortress? Absolutely, there is not a doubt in my mind. The Krauts will do anything to get this bloody fortress that they have lost not once, but twice! Get my men, now!”
Hurriedly, the men round up in a large opening in the trenches. Lieutenant Kotlinsky walks towards his men with an undeniable air. They salute and he salutes back.
“I have news surrounding the upcoming attack by the Krauts. While looking through binoculars earlier this afternoon, Lance Corporal Smirnov spotted a Kraut with a gas mask on. This means that they have had it up to here with us, and they will gas us.” Gasps and dread slam into the men. “We all know what this means,” he doesn’t need to say death, “the wind is blowing in our direction, so make sure that you are ready. My biggest concern is that we do not know what gas they will attack us with, and the fact that we do not have any protection against it.”
“Do we really not have any protection against the gas, sir?” asks Nikolai, perhaps an unappreciated question.
The Lieutenant clearly recollects whatever knowledge he obtained during his years of experience and training, however scarce. “We could try to wrap wet bandages on our faces. That is about all we can do for now.” His face is grave and solemn. Lieutenant Kotlinsky leaves his troops.
“We need to get ready, we don’t know when the attack will commence. It could be today or even tomorrow if the wind stays the same,” the Russian Private, Grigory Ivanov speaks up.
“Let’s move out, men. We have a lot to do before the Krauts gas us up,” This time, from Nikolai. He looks up at the sky before leaving, the gloomy sight making the dreaded day even worse. “Miserable day to die, this day.”
Nikolai returns to his sleeping quarters. He grabs stray cloth and clothing lying around, and tears it into strips. He dips them into a bucket of rain water they had collected and wraps them around his face. After a second layer, the remaining cloth is turned into a bandana. He was now as ready as he could be to try and survive the gas attack. Nikolai takes one final look at a picture of his wife and young son- does his best to imprint their faces in his memory. This could be the last time he sees them.
Nikolai walks towards the trench where Dmitri was wrapping himself up densely. “You ready for this, Dmitri? There is no way your leg is fine yet.”
“It has healed a bit, but there is no way I will watch as my brothers fall without me. I would rather die fighting than die laying down. I would be ashamed if it were the latter.”
Nighttime rolled by, and Nikolai and Dmitri sat together praying. When they said their dues to their Lord, they looked up at the sky.
“Are you scared of dying, Nikolai?”
It wasn’t a light question, but he answered relatively quickly. “Not really, but dying by gas seems quite scary.” Nikolai tried not to think about it too long. Dmitri patted him on the back.
“Take your binoculars, look through them. Death seems close and scary, hey? Now turn them around, and you’ll see it is far away. It is tiny and not frightening at all.”
The German side follows the story of Albrecht von Lettow-Vorbeck. Albrecht was a Corporal in the Imperial German Army. Before he had become one, he was just a teacher. This would also be his third time attacking Osowiec Fortress. During both previous attacks, he came out uninjured. He was ready to take the fortress without sustaining any injuries.
Albrecht sits with three of his friends and his brother, eating their rations. Laughing at each other’s jokes and talking about the upcoming attack and how they will squash the Russkis, Albrecht asks, “Have you boys heard how we’ll do it this time?”
“I’ve heard rumors going around, but not a hundred percent sure. We’ll just have to wait and see. We will probably bomb the hell out of them and then march forward,” says his brother Manfred.
“The fortress won’t hold for long. The Russkis know they won’t be able to hold it for much longer, and that it will soon belong to the Kaiser,” says Albrecht.
A medical van pulls up at their camp. The Red Cross team hauls crates of medical supplies and gas masks from it.
“Looks like it’s a gas attack. We’re going to gas the Russkis to death and then we’ll march in and finish them off,” states Manfred with a grin on his face.
“I doubt it. That just isn’t us. The chances of the Russkis attacking us with gas is higher than that of us attacking them with it,” counters Albrecht.
A German soldier throws some masks in the direction of their close-knit circle. All but Albrecht laughs and plays around with them, testing out the durability and quality of the masks that are to defend their lungs and ultimately, their lives. Albrecht just smiles at their goofiness, finding it odd that people could be so happy on the eve of mass death.
Suddenly a loud noise comes from the van, and a gas canister fills the air around the van with chlorine gas. A German soldier falls to the ground and starts coughing up blood, speckles of red splattering the ground around him. Two Germans with gasmasks drag him by the legs out of the cloud. It seemed the German had accidentally turned the canister on.
Albrecht had enough. “Fuck this. I am going to Field Marshall von Hindenburg. We shouldn’t be doing this to the Russkis, no matter how much we want that bloody fortress.” He gestures to the scene before them, other men also watching the spectacle.
“You do you, brother. You are just a corporal but, nonetheless, good luck.”
Albrecht stands up and walks in the direction of Field Marshall von Hindenburg’s quarters. He knocks on the framework and hears the voice of the Field Marshall. “Come in.”
Albrecht opens the curtain door and salutes, and the Field Marshall does the same.
“What brings you to my quarters, Corporal von Lettow-Vorbeck?”
“I am here to talk about the upcoming assault on the Osowiec Fortress.”
“What about it, corporal?” A tone of impudence in his voice.
“I do not believe we should be using gas to exterminate the Russkis in the fortress. The fortress will soon fall, whether we use gas or not. I think we should rather just attack them on the field again. We greatly outnumber them this time around.”
“I believe you. This fortress will be in our hands soon, but every battle to get this fortress has been a blood bath. We cannot lose any more men just to get this one fortress.”
“But-”
“No buts, Corporal. We will gas the Russians out and then march forward and capture it for the Kaiser. There is nothing else we can do, nothing else we will do. We attack in the early hours of tomorrow morning! Go to bed, corporal. August 6th will be a victory for the Kaiser!”
Albrecht unwillingly salutes and goes to his quarters. The sky looked gloomy as the sun set for the day, signaling a new phase of planning for the German strategists. It was almost time for the attack. Just a few more hours and the fortress would be theirs.
Albrecht opens his eyes on August 6th, and one of the first things he does is walk through the mud towards his brother.
“You ready to make mother, father and the Kaiser proud?” asks Manfred.
“I am still against this gas attack. Where did your humanity go?
“It vanished the day Heinrich was killed by those Russkis. I will never forgive- or forget- that moment in February. I want my revenge and I’ll get it, that I am sure of.
“Mother and father won’t be proud of this deed, Manfred. You aren’t the brother I swore to protect.”
A furious visage turns Albrecht’s way. “Then don’t protect me. We will gas the Russkis with or without you. Osowiec Fortress will be ours, you hear me?”
The two of them are joined by the same men of last night, and they continue towards the rest of the troops. The German troops were ready to attack the Russians, and they were delighted that the wind was blowing in the direction of the enemy. All the Germans are handed a gas mask.
“Masks on!” shouts those who are manning the canisters, ready to unleash the chlorine gas on the Russians.
Albrecht and Manfred put their gas masks on as they give one last look at each other. The Germans manning the canisters wave a red flag and release the gas into Russian territory. The pipes unleash the chlorine gas towards Osowiec Fortress. Albrecht could just watch as the enormous green cloud of gas travels at a speeding pace towards the fortress. After a couple of seconds the pipes go still. The standing Germans swipe down their red flags to signal the march to take the fortress. Albrecht and Manfred climb up the wooden ladders into No-man’s-land. The air was still an eerie green from the chlorine gas. About 7000 Germans start marching towards the impregnable fortress, which now housed a bunch of gassed Russians.
“We have finally done it. The Russkis are dead! We have taken their invincible fortress!” yells Manfred.
“Not yet,” says Albrecht, “what if there are survivors?”
“No way would anyone be able to withstand that amount of gas. We unleashed tons of canisters,” replied Manfred cockily.
The German in the front stops, and all the men behind him do the same, coming to a halt as one. Albrecht looks up at the sky through his mask’s eyes. The air was still somewhat green. Albrecht looks at No-man’s-land. The corpses of Russians cover the once-beautiful field. They had never been retrieved from the battle that took place at the beginning of the year. The grass and tree leaves had turned black as ash. Albrecht looks back up, the sight too much for his conscience. Feathers start floating down and gassed birds caught in the crossfire, even high above, start dropping like flies.
Drops of blood splatter on Albrecht’s mask. He turns to the side only to see the lifeless body of Private Manfred von Lettow-Vorbeck falling to the muddy ground with a bloodied gas mask.
Lieutenant Kotlinsky struggles to stand at the top of the small hill with Nikolai and Dmitri at his side. They watch in astonishment as gassed Russians slowly and painfully start emerging from the trenches.
It was always going to be a bloodbath... but now it would be that of the Germans!
On German territory, Albrecht yells, “Shit,” staring at the hundred undead Russians emerging from the trenches and fortress.
“CHARGE!” shouts Lieutenant Kotlinsky as the blood dripped from his mouth, staining the brown mud below him with hues of red.
“Make those Krauts pay!” Nikolai screams with every morsel of his being that remained. He coughed blood into a piece of cloth before charging like a zombie figure towards the frozen Germans, limbs slouching and struggling to gain momentum.
Lieutenant Kotlinsky and his men start charging towards the Germans. Dmitri, however, falls back to the ground as he starts coughing up blood and chunks of his lungs. His skin and eyes start itching incredibly, sending waves of brutal agony through his body- or what remained of it, rather. Nikolai takes a final look at his friend before continuing towards the terrified Germans. He knows his own visage resembles the dead more than the life left in him.
Out of all the Russian men before the attack, the 13th Company of the 266th Infantry Regiment remains- the same company Dmitri and Nikolai are in. Russians start firing at the Germans with their guns, concealed prior to their march, as well as those of the fortress. Germans fall around Albrecht, resembling the birds that had succumbed earlier. He couldn’t believe it; Russians on the verge of death had started charging and firing towards them.
“Retreat!” screams one German.
“The undead are attacking!” screamed another.
The Germans, so scared of the zombie-like figures coming at them and shooting towards them, start dropping their guns and run back to safety. The gas attack had failed, and miserably. It had completely backfired on them, and the wind wasn’t even turned to them. Albrecht falls to his knees as he rips his gas mask off and starts crying over the corpse of his beloved brother, tears staining wet patches on the material of his uniform. This was it. He was going to die on the battlefield. All around a mourning Albrecht, bullets fly and Germans flee. As the Germans retreat, they stumble over corpses and run into their own wires and booby traps, committing accidental suicide in the process.
Nikolai charges ahead of the company towards where Albrecht lay with his upper body on his brother.
“That one’s mine!” Nikolai shouts as he sees Grigory running towards the German.
Grigory grunts and charges past Albrecht unwillingly; he won’t defy his comrade.
Nikolai readies his bayonet, ready to stab the foolish German who decided not to retreat. He stops for a moment, and looks into the red eyes of the mourning German. He then looks at the face of the now unmasked victim of the first bullet they fired. Their faces were of the same likes.
“Please,” quivers Albrecht as he stares into the eyes of the bayonet-carrying Russian.
“This your brother?” asks Nikolai, coughing up a small chunk of his lungs, voice raspier than he ever remembered it. He gave the dead body a slight kick to make sure he was dead and it wasn’t a trap.
“Yes,” sniffed Albrecht. “I was supposed to protect him, but now...”
“I am sorry for your loss, soldier.” The words convey a respect that only ever can be found between two soldiers, foe or not.
“Please kill me!”
“I won’t kill you, but I can’t speak for the rest of my comrades you gassed. I will take you to Lieutenant Kotlinsky to see what your use will be to us.”
Private Grigory Ivanov arrives on the scene. He points his gun at Albrecht.
“I thought you said this was yours?” The barrel is aimed at Albrecht’s face.
“Don’t kill him. He is our prisoner. He could give us vital information on the Krauts. Help me take the body of his brother with me. That’s the only way he will speak up. The body goes to medical and he comes with me to Lieutenant Kotlinsky.”
On the way to the medical encampment, which was luckily not hit by the gas, they walk past the corpse of a beloved comrade, Lance Corporal Smirnov. Almost his entire lung lay in front of him in chunks. His makeshift bandana was drenched in his blood, despite his best efforts. His raw eyes stared up at them, soulless, as they pass.
“I’ll take the two of them further. You help with Smirnov,” Nikolai orders.
“You! Come help here!” shouted Ivanov at another Russian close by.
“What is your name, soldier?” Nikolai asks the German.
“Corporal Albrecht von Lettow-Vorbeck. My brother is Manfred. He was a private in the Imperial German Army.” The words are barely audible over the chaos ensuing around them.
“I am Lance Corporal Nikolai Bazdugan. That man was my mentor, Lance Corporal Dmitri Smirnov.” He points at the body of the beloved old man. “Dmitri was beloved by all who knew him.”
“I asked Field Marshall von Hindenburg not to attack with gas, but he wouldn’t listen to a corporal. I tried everything I could. He wouldn’t budge. As soon as I saw the gas, I went straight to him. He is a monster.” Albrecht’s eyes carry the same pleading in his voice.
“You two! Come help with this Kraut’s body. Take him to the medical encampment. I’m taking his brother to Lieutenant Kotlinsky.” Nikolai coughs once more before he takes Albrecht’s hands and ties them together behind his back with some of the cloth around his face. “Now we’re all set.”
Nikolai escorts Albrecht to Lieutenant Kotlinsky’s quarters for all remaining Russians to see.
“Doubt you’ll find him in there,” said Grigory, “just saw him at the medical encampment. Not doing well at all. He won’t live long, so you better hurry before everyone gangs up on the Kraut.”
The two of them hurry to the medical encampment. There, on three of the beds lies Smirnov, Manfred and Lieutenant Kotlinsky. Smirnov and Manfred have blankets covering their bodies while Lieutenant Kotlinsky is still half alive.
“Lieutenant Kotlinsky, sir!”
“What... now... Bazdugan?” Nikolai could hear the life seeping out of the Lieutenant.
“I have brought a German hostage from the battlefield. We need to get everything we can out of him.”
“Let him go... If he swears not to tell... anybody what he has seen. He is no... use to us when we’ll... all... die soon.”
“Yes, sir. I wish you well.”
“Thank you, Lance Corporal Bazdugan.”
The two of them walk back the way they came, and on the way spot Grigory with four other Russian soldiers behind him.
“There they are, boys. The traitor and his so-called hostage he just allows to walk around our territory after gassing us half to death! Smirnov would feel betrayed if he was alive, Bazdugan. Seize them and take them to our brothers at the large opening.”
“Lieutenant Kotlinsky told him he is free to go!”
“I don’t give a damn about that. Kotlinsky is on his death bed. No way will his orders mean anything after he dies! The Kraut deserves it after what they have done to us!”
Nikolai is punched relentlessly and dragged by the legs while Albrecht endures the same, though dragged by his arms. As they arrive at the large opening in the trenches, Nikolai’s fellow soldiers stare at him and the German soldier. Grigory throws Nikolai face-first into the mud and the other four Russians start tying Albrecht up by his arms- one last degradation before certain death. Nikolai lifts his head and sees Grigory with his gun, aiming at him and the German right behind him.
“For the Tsar.”
Grigory shoots.
The body of Lance Corporal Nikolai Bazdugan hits the muddy ground first. Mere seconds later, Corporal Albrecht von Lettow-Vorbeck collapses face first into the mud next to him. The ropes untie in the process due to the weight of his body.
Lance Corporal Nikolai Bazdugan had sacrificed his life to try and save the German he brought in. Unfortunately, the bullet went through him and into Corporal Albrecht von Lettow-Vorbeck. Their bodies, along with that of Private Manfred von Lettow-Vorbeck would be burned, and their ashes scattered across the battlefield. Grigory would later die on Nazino Island in 1933.
While the Russians had won the Attack of the Dead Men, they would ultimately destroy and abandon Osowiec Fortress a few weeks later once the tide of the war changed. Lieutenant Kotlinsky passed away from wounds sustained in the battle that same evening. Whether they won because of how gruesome and ghastly they looked or how they fought, the men that took part in the battle would cement themselves into popular history by taking on a large force of Germans while being nearly gassed to death in what would forever be remembered as The Attack of the Dead Men.
