THE LAST HURRAH: Rostov, 1920

January proved to be a tough month for the torn up White army under General Denikin. The Red juggernaut was steamrolling over them pushing them back and back and back. All seemed hopeless to the White cause that had lasted since 1918, to stop the advance of Bolshevism (aka Communism).
The White army was reaching a thread-bare existance despite the millions of aid in weapons and equipment the British had provided in 1919. It was the British proxy war or others had coined it, "Churchills War".

Denikin's Volunteer Army had the best soldiers and weapons and throughout 1919 were the ones that advanced to within 200 miles of Moscow in October 1919. However, by November, everything had reversed and now the White's were on the retreat.

By February 1920, Denikin's army was nearing the city of Rostov, which he had hoped to hold. When this failed, his troops fell back to Bataisk, south of the city and the Don River for protection. The river was frozen in many places but was a huge obstacle for the advancing Red army. The barrier gave Denikin respite from the Red steamroller, which by now crawled. The weather had taken its toll on both sides. A few Red units did cross the river and face off with the Whites, but they were too weak to overrun them. Much of Rostov was actually devoid of Red soldiers since many units were still far off. Only the Red cavalry managed to reach the city.

Denikin now planned for his last successful counterattack using all remaining Mk V tanks and any aircraft. He gathered his remaining Volunteer Army as the main strike force, which although had suffered losses, were still more than a match for the Red peasant soldier. Other units were also gathered and supplied for this last hurrah. Denikin knew time was against him the more he waited, taking Rostov, would give the White morale a huge morale boost.

Denikin struck and despite all odds succeeded in retaking much of Rostov and its environs. This put the Red army leaders into a mad panic. The battle raged and became fierce as more and more Red units arrived until after 4-5 days of White success, numbers prevailed and the White units were once again forced to pull back behind the river for safety.

This is the subject of Firefight Games latest release, The Last Hurrah!.