Plea for Yakir

[Yarpen]

I'd like to ask for Iona Yakir as a leader. For now he's not among Red generals though IRL he was an important one, raising to the rank of kommandarm (also one of most decorated bolshevik commanders of civil war).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iona_Yakir

[lycortas]

I was also surprised he was not in the game as Yakir won, what 2 Red Banners?
I would probably rate him as a 5-1-1 or a 5-2-1 possibly good commander.

Really, with some of the schlumps SEPRUS put in the Red leader list how did they miss Yakir?

Mike

[Seb]

I was also surprised he was not in the game as Yakir won, what 2 Red Banners?
I would probably rate him as a 5-1-1 or a 5-2-1 possibly good commander.

Really, with some of the schlumps SEPRUS put in the Red leader list how did they miss Yakir?

Mike

Indeed
We'll see what we can do for him

[TheDoctorKing]

Hey, if Stalin has a 3 defensive rating, Yakir deserves at least a 3 offensive.

He might also have the excellent forager advantage.

[Krot]

I absolutely agree with the suggestion to add Yakir into the pool of Red leaders. He became famous during Civil War and played prominent role in Soviet military elite in 1920-ies and 1930-ies

Nevertheless I think that while measuring Yakir stats for the game purposes we should take into consideration his actual record as military leader. I'd say it was not so brilliant.

Yakir got neither military education nor any military experience before Civil war started. Untill July 1919 he was not military but political officer (head of small partisan detachment, brigade and division commissar, member of Voronezh party organization, commissar of Southern screen forces and member of military council of 8th Army). During this period of his career he was distinguished for the energy and ruthlessness in practicing mass repressions against rebellious Don Cossacks and their families.

Yakir with his commissar experience was appointed commander of 45th division because of specific nature of this formation. The division consisted of unruly and suspicious elements: pro-Green Ukrainian and Bessarabian partisans, Anarchists of Makhno and even regiment of Odessa criminals. It was vital to ensure loyalty of these elements with their semi-independent military leaders. This was not military but mostly political task.

When Yakir met military challenges he was not very successful. His famous 400 km retreat from Odessa to Kiev was indeed a miracle. This miracle was the result of his inability to oppose 34th division of Whites (1500 bayonets, 300 sabers, 12 artillery pieces) with 45th, 58th and 47th divisions and other minor units under his command (minimum 20 000 active fighters). Successful retreat was used to turn military blunder into propaganda victory. Achievements of Yakir in Soviet-Polish war were mediocre at best.

His military reputation after the war is rather dubious. Soviet marshals and generals who served with Yakir in 20-ies and 30-ies told in their memoirs about his charisma, good temper and administrative activity but they are silent or even critical (Konev) about his military competence. To the contrary such different and rival persons like Konev, Zhukov and Rokossovsky are unanimous in their high regard of Uborevich.

Modern Russian military history researchers are critical to much advertized innovative Kiev military maneuvers of 1935-1936. They see the maneuvers as grandiose spectacles with falsified results staged by Yakir to impress Soviet political leaders and foreign military observers.

I see Yakir as an example of Red commander whose military vices were atoned by ideological virtues (in eyes of Communist leadership).