We have recived from Russian help at the time of WWI, when Assyrians fought against Turkish Troops and Irregular Kurdish once.., they have provided us weapons and ammo, even Russian Soldiers fought alongside Assyrians....Unfortunataly the delevering of Weapons stopped as Lenin started his Communist Revoulotion..., if that didnt happen, I am sure Assyrians would be now better off!
The Assyrians had no reason to put much trust in the Turkish promises. The reports of Armenian massacres were a warning. The preaching of the Jihad [A Holy war] could hardly be expected to exclude the Assyrian Christians. The Kurds, living in close proximity to the Assyrians are of the Moslem faith and answerable to the central Turkish Government. They had already attacked and sacked villages in Albaq district just north of the Hakkiari Mountains. Here a large number of Assyrians as well as Armenians were killed. The Russians too had commenced to proposition the Assyrians.
December 1914- The Russian Garrison at Urmia was ordered to evacuate and support the troops at Batum. This left the Assyrians at the mercy of the Turks. The Assyrian battalions were scattered and engaged in battles with the enemy. The nearest to the City was twenty miles away. Panic ruled in the City, 10,000 Christians followed the Russians and fled to Russia. The Persians who outnumbered the Assyrians twenty to one and with Turkish and Kurdish accomplices subjected the remainder to the most brutal treatment. On one occasion some sixty Assyrian men were marched out of the City to the Village of Gilpashin, there they were offered life on condition of acceptance of Islam. They refused and were put to death. Other similar massacres occurred. Children were forcibly removed and carried away, never to be seen again.
April 1915-The Russians defeated the Turks at Batum [the battle of Sara Kamish] and also captured the city of Van. The garrison once again retired to Urmia. On their return they made further attempts to induce the Assyrians to join the War, they promised Arms and other material assistance.
May 10th 1915- The Assyrians, enraged by the massacres, declared war on Turkey. A second front opened up, this time on the Hakkiari Mountains. The Turks re-enforced with fresh troops from Mosul, commenced heavy attacks on the defending Assyrian highlanders. During the months of July and August the Assyrians fought six major engagements with Turkish troops. All of witch was decisive victories, inflicting heavy casualties; they secured the west bank of the Zab and destroyed bridges to stop the Turkish advance. The Turks, failing in their attempt to destroy the highlanders, sought to bring about the Assyrian surrender in a shameful fashion. Hormiz, the brother of the Mar Shimon, was a prisoner of the Turks; he was captured in Constantinople two years earlier. The Turks sent the following message, "your brother is in our hands, unless you and your nation will lay down your Arms, that brother shall die". The Mar Shimon replied, "My people are my charge and they are many, how can I give them up for the sake of one, even if that one be my own brother". Hormiz was executed. The Russians sent a force of 400 Cossacks to re-enforce the Assyrian positions. They never made it, a Kurdish warlord, Agha of Omar, invited the Russian commander to dine and offer him assistance. The Cossack graciously accepted. After dining, the whole force was ambushed, no one survived. Facing this disaster and running low on ammunition, the Assyrians found themselves in a dire situation. With no hope of being re-supplied by the Russians, and the Turks in force in front of them, on three fronts. They took to the high mountains.
August 1915- To cover the withdrawal, the Assyrians left 400 of their best marksmen in the Assyrian town of Baz. A Turkish force, 3000 strong under the command of General Haydar Pasha, approached Baz and attacked in full force, only to withdraw again after loosing over 400 men. A second attack was executed, this time with the use of long range Artillery. The Turks bombarded the Assyrian defenses for most of the day and into the night. The Assyrians having no defense against long range Artillery devised a simple but courageous plan to deceive the Turks. At Dawn there was no movement from the Assyrian positions, the Turks fired several volleys into the town to force activity, still no movement, the Turks were convinced the Assyrians had fled during the night, they carefully approached the town. 100 meters from the first ruined barricades there was still no movement, the Turks now confident in their victory, approached in force. Upon reaching the barricades, they stood petrified as 400 men climbed out of the rubble with fixed bayonets and charged them with such ferocity that over one thousand Turks died in the first few minutes. As one Assyrian defender described later, [No one could have survived our attack, the Turks were so frightened they did not know witch way to run].
After the battle, with that Turkish force effectively neutralized, they followed their brothers to the mountains. At an altitude of over ten thousand feet, in winter, life was not possible. Knowing this, the Turks waited, they knew the snow would drive the Assyrians down to their doom. The Mar Shimun himself then undertook a heroic journey; with only two guides he made his way through the enemy lines to Urmia to seek help from the Russians. The Russians however, would not commit any more troops. The Mar Shimun refused an invitation to save himself and stay in Urmia, he returned to his people. The Assyrians now in an extremely dangerous situation came to a desperate decision. If the Russians won't come to them, they will go to the Russians. They succeeded! The Turks were stupefied; the Russians could not believe their eyes. An outstanding tactical withdrawal, taking an unexpected rout, they were able to cut through the enemy positions. Over 120 miles, fifty thousand men, women and children avoided pursuit and made their way to Urmia. A truly remarkable feat!
une 1917- The Mar Shimon lead an expedition deep into enemy held territory, to attempt a rescue of Assyrians held captive by the Kurds. The force moved in two columns one under General Putros the other under the Mar Shimons brother [later RAB Khaila] David. Russian Officers also accompanied to observe and report on Assyrian fighting capabilities. The columns moved in an Arrowhead formation, very effective in open terrain, this formation was used by the Ancient Assyrians and is still in use today by modern Armies. On the third day, Davids column encountered a strong force of Kurdish troops. Entrenched on mountain slopes in witch the Assyrians must pass. The Kurds opened up with all they had, luckily they misjudged the distance and their fire fell short. The Russian officers witnessing the strong barrage in front called for a retreat. The Assyrians however had other ideas. As soon as the Russians called retreat most of the Assyrian force disappeared! The Russians reported later We looked for them, we could not find them. We waited to see what was going to happen, An eerie silence fell on the battlefield, five hours passed, suddenly the Assyrians returned and commenced a frontal attack, but with only a third of their number. Unknown to the Kurds and the Russians, the Assyrians had retreated a few miles to the rear, split into three columns, one attacked from the right flank the other from the left flank, and one column to draw the enemy fire with a frontal assault. By the same afternoon, no Kurd was left standing. The Russian commander in absolute awe, addressed the Mar Shimon, Your Beatitude, having seen the valor and courage of your men, I wish to be received not as an officer, but as an ordinary soldier. The left column under General Putros encountered a stronger entrenched enemy of mixed Kurd and Turkish regulars. The General reports- The Assyrian soldiers attacked like tigers, assailing one bulwark after another. They looked as if they were flying across the hills to attack the foe in the rear as well. Among the dead we found a number of Turkish regulars and took one Turkish officer prisoner. The Russians accompanying this column recommended eight men for the cross of Saint George. And the Assyrian Nation became known as THE SMALEST ALLY.
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http://www.assyrianlevies.com/gpage8.html