The Red Army defeated the troops of Baron Ungern. Baron Ungern

As you know, the tragedy of the White Cause was, first of all, that most of its leadership did not repent for the perjury of March 1917 - treason to the Sovereign Emperor Nicholas II. The terrible Yekaterinburg atrocity was not fully realized either. In this regard, the ideology of the White Cause continued to be mostly unprejudiced, and even republican. Despite the fact that the overwhelming majority of officers, soldiers and Cossacks who fought in the ranks of the White Army remained monarchists by conviction.

Back in the summer of 1918, the hero of the First World War, cavalry general F. A. Keller refused the proposals of the envoys of A. I. Denikin to join the Volunteer Army, saying that he was a convinced monarchist and did not agree with Denikin's political platform of "non-predecision" and the Constituent Assembly . At the same time, Keller bluntly stated: "Let them wait until the time comes to proclaim the Tsar, then we will all act." That time has come, alas, too late. Nevertheless, it should be noted that the monarchist component became stronger and stronger in the White Army, and against the backdrop of a constantly deteriorating situation on the fronts of the war with the Red International. Already in the autumn of 1918, General F. A. Keller in Kyiv began to form the Northern Pskov monarchist army. In his address to the soldiers and officers, the general stated:

For the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland, we swore to lay down our heads, the time has come to fulfill our duty ... Remember and read the prayer before the battle - the prayer that we read before our glorious victories, overshadow yourself with the Sign of the Cross and with God's help forward for the Faith, for the Tsar and for our whole indivisible homeland Russia.

His Holiness Patriarch Tikhon blessed Keller with prosphora and the Sovereign Icon of the Mother of God. However, General Keller was soon killed by the Petliurists. In addition to Keller, Major General M. G. Drozdovsky, General M. K. Diterikhs, General V. O. Kappel, Lieutenant General K. V. Sakharov and others were staunch monarchists in the ranks of the White Army.

Among these commanders, General Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg occupies a special place. This special place is determined by the fact that Ungern, a 100% monarchist, can hardly be called the leader of the White movement. Hating Bolshevism and waging an uncompromising struggle with it, Ungern never recognized either the authority of the supreme ruler, Admiral A.V. Kolchak, or General A.I. Denikin. Perceiving the monarchy as a God-given power, Ungern saw it in the Russian Autocrat, and in the Chinese Bogdykhan, and the Mongolian Great Khan. His goal was to recreate three empires that would become a shield from the theomachic West and the revolution that came from it. "We are not fighting a political party," said Ungern, "but a sect of destroyers of modern culture."

For Ungern, Kolchak and Denikin were the same offspring of Western civilization, like the Bolsheviks. Therefore, he refused any form of cooperation with them. Moreover, the Kolchakites were potential opponents of Ungern. In the event of their successful actions and the capture of Moscow, republican-minded generals would have come to power.

Western and Bolshevik propaganda portrayed Ungern as a half-crazed sadist. Modern biographers of R. F. Ungern write that the fruits of the fantasies of Soviet historians, as well as "the desire to wishful thinking and show the opponents of Soviet power in the most unsightly light, formed the basis of the myths about Baron Ungern."

As comrades-in-arms testified already in exile:

Baron Ungern was an exceptional person who knew no compromises in his life, a man of crystal honesty and insane courage. He sincerely hurt his soul for Russia, enslaved by the red beast, painfully perceived everything that was fraught with red dregs, and brutally dealt with the suspected. Being himself an ideal officer, Baron Ungern was especially scrupulous about the officer corps, which did not escape the general devastation, and which, in some numbers, showed instincts that were completely inconsistent with the officer rank. The baron punished such people with inexorable severity, while his hand touched the mass of soldiers very rarely.

R. F. Ungern comes from an old German-Baltic (Ostsee) count and baronial family. The family of the barons Ungern-Sternberg belongs to a family originating from the time of Attila, one of the Ungerns fought with Richard the Lionheart and was killed under the walls of Jerusalem. When the Bolshevik interrogating Ungern asked in a mocking tone: "How did your family distinguish themselves in the Russian service?", the baron calmly replied: "Seventy-two killed in the war."

Since childhood, Roman Ungern wanted to be like his ancestors. He grew up a secretive and unsociable boy. For some time he studied at the Nikolaev Revel Gymnasium, but due to poor health he was expelled. Then the parents decided to send the young man to some military school. The novel was assigned to the Naval School of St. Petersburg. But the Russian-Japanese war began, Ungern dropped out of school and expressed a desire to take part in the battles with the Japanese. But too late, the war is over.

After the war of 1904-1905, Ungern entered the Pavlovsk Military School. In addition to military disciplines, which were studied here with particular care, general education subjects were taught: the law of God, chemistry, mechanics, literature, and foreign languages. In 1908, Ungern graduated from college as a second lieutenant. In the same year, he decided to transfer to the Transbaikal Cossack army. His request was granted, and the baron was enrolled in the 1st Argun Regiment in the Cossack class with the rank of cornet. While serving in the Far East, Ungern turned into a hardy and dashing rider. The centurion of the same regiment characterized him in the certification: "He rides well and dashingly, he is very hardy in the saddle."

According to people who knew Ungern personally, he was distinguished by extraordinary perseverance, cruelty and instinctive instinct. In 1911, the cornet Ungern was transferred by the Highest Decree to the 1st Amur Cossack Regiment, where he headed the horse reconnaissance. Soon the efforts of the energetic officer were noticed, and in the fourth year of his service he was promoted to centurion. According to the memoirs of fellow soldiers, Baron Ungern "was not familiar with the feeling of fatigue and could go without sleep and food for a long time, as if forgetting about them. He could sleep side by side with the Cossacks, eating from a common boiler." The regimental commander of Ungern was another baron - P. N. Wrangel. Subsequently, already in exile, he wrote about Ungern:

Such types, created for war and an era of upheavals, could hardly get along in an atmosphere of peaceful regimental life. Thin and emaciated in appearance, but of iron health and energy, he lives in war. This is not an officer in the generally accepted sense of the word, because he not only does not know the most elementary regulations and basic rules of service, but very often sins against both external discipline and military education - this is the type of amateur partisan, hunter-tracker from novels Mayne Reid.

In 1913, Ungern resigned, left the army and went to Mongolia, explaining his act with a desire to support the Mongolian nationalists in the fight against republican China. It is quite possible that the baron carried out the task of Russian intelligence. The Mongols gave Ungern neither soldiers nor weapons; he was enlisted in the convoy of the Russian consulate.

Immediately after the outbreak of the First World War, Ungern-Sternberg immediately went to the front as part of the 34th Don Cossack Regiment, which operated on the Austrian front in Galicia. In the war, the baron showed unparalleled courage. One of Ungern's colleagues recalled: "In order to fight like that, you must either seek death, or know for sure that you will not die." During the war, Baron Ungern was wounded five times, but returned to duty. For exploits, bravery and bravery he was awarded five orders, including St. George of the 4th degree. Until the end of the war, the military foreman (lieutenant colonel) R.F. Ungern von Sternberg became a holder of all Russian orders that an officer of a similar rank could receive (including the St. George weapon).

At the end of 1916, after another violation of military discipline, Ungern was removed from the regiment and sent to the Caucasus, and then to Persia, where the corps of General N. N. Baratov operated. There, the baron participated in the organization of volunteer detachments from the Assyrians, which again suggests that Ungern belonged to intelligence. It also speaks in favor of the fact that Ungern was fluent in Chinese and Mongolian. The "hooligan" nature of Ungern's actions also raises doubts. Here, for example, is what was said in his certification: “He is known in the regiment as a good comrade, beloved by officers, as a boss who always enjoyed the adoration of his subordinates, and as an officer - correct, honest and beyond praise ... He received 5 wounds in military operations. In two cases, being wounded, he remained in the ranks. In other cases, he was in the hospital, but each time he returned to the regiment with unhealed wounds. " And General V. A. Kislitsyn stated: "He was an honest, disinterested man, an officer of indescribable courage and a very interesting interlocutor." Somehow these words diverge from the image of "hooligan" and "debaucher".

Ungern met the February coup with extreme hostility, nevertheless swearing allegiance, like most officers of the Imperial Army, to the Provisional Government. In July 1917, A.F. Kerensky instructed Yesaul G.M. Semenov, the future chieftain, to form volunteer units from the Mongols and Buryats in Transbaikalia. Semenov took Ungern with him to Siberia, who in 1920 formed the Asian Cavalry Division, subordinate to himself, from Russians, Mongols, Chinese, Buryats and Japanese. Ungern, knowing that many peasant uprisings in Siberia were put forward by their slogan "For Tsar Michael", raised the standard with the cypher of Emperor Michael II, not believing in the murder of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich by the Bolsheviks. Also, the baron was going to return the throne to the Mongolian Bogdo-gegen (sacred ruler), which the Chinese had taken from him in 1919. Ungern said:

Now it is unthinkable to think about the restoration of kings in Europe ... For now, it is only possible to begin the restoration of the Middle Kingdom and the peoples that come into contact with it to the Caspian Sea, and then only begin the restoration of the Russian monarchy. Personally, I don't need anything. I am glad to die for the restoration of the monarchy, even if not of my own state, but of another.

Baron Ungern proclaimed himself the heir of Genghis Khan. He dressed in a yellow Mongolian robe, over which he wore Russian general's epaulettes, and on his chest he had a St. George's cross.

Ungern never recognized the authority of the supreme ruler, Admiral A. V. Kolchak. Photo: TASS

In 1919, the Reds defeated Kolchak's troops, in October 1920 Ataman Semenov was defeated, and Ungern with his division (1045 horsemen, 6 guns and 20 machine guns) went to Mongolia, where the Chinese revolutionaries (Kuomintang) were in charge, who at that time were allies Bolsheviks, who generously supplied them with military advisers. Everywhere in Mongolia, Chinese soldiers plundered Russian and Buryat settlements. The Chinese removed from power and arrested the spiritual and secular ruler of Mongolia Bogd Gegen Jabdzavandambu (Jebtsundambu) Khutukhta. By arresting the Mongolian "living god", the Chinese generals wanted to once again demonstrate the indivisibility of their power over Mongolia. 350 heavily armed Chinese guarded the Bogdo Gegen, who was under arrest with his wife in his Green Palace.

Ungern planned to free the capital of Mongolia, Urga, and the captive Bogdo Gegen. At that time, there were up to 15,000 (according to some reports, even up to 18,000) Chinese soldiers in Urga, armed to the teeth, with 40 artillery pieces and more than 100 machine guns. In the ranks of the advanced units of Baron Ungern advancing on Urga, there were only nine hundreds of horsemen with four guns and ten machine guns.

The assault on Urga began on October 30 and continued until November 4. Unable to overcome the desperate resistance of the Chinese, parts of the baron stopped 4 miles from Urga. Ungern organized skillful agitation among the Mongols in order to convince them to rise up to fight for the liberation of the Bogd Gegen.

Lieutenant General Mikhail Diterikhs

In broad daylight, Baron Ungern, in his usual Mongolian attire - a red-cherry robe with gold general's epaulets and the Order of the Holy Great Martyr and Victorious George on his chest, in a white hat, with a tashur in his hand, without exposing his checkers, freely entered Urga occupied by the Chinese. He drove to the palace of Chen-I of the chief Chinese official in Urga, and then, having passed through the consular town, calmly returned to his camp. Driving on the way back past the Urga prison, the baron noticed a Chinese sentry who had fallen asleep at his post. Outraged by such a flagrant violation of discipline, Ungern whipped the sleeping sentry. To the awakened and terrified soldier, Ungern in Chinese "brought to mind" that it was forbidden for the sentry to sleep at the post and that he, Baron Ungern, personally punished him for his misconduct. After that, he calmly drove on.

This "unannounced visit" of Baron Ungern to the snake's nest made a colossal sensation among the population in the besieged Urga, and plunged the Chinese invaders into fear and despondency. The superstitious Chinese had no doubt that some powerful and supernatural forces were standing behind the impudent baron and helping him.

At the end of January 1921, Ungern carried out the release from the captivity of the Bogdo Gegen. 60 Tibetans from the Cossack hundred of Ungern killed the Chinese guards, took the Bogdo-gegen (he was blind), his wife and fled with them to the sacred mountain Bogdo-Ula, and from there to the Manchzhushri monastery. The daring removal of the Bogdo Gegen and his wife from under their noses finally brought the Chinese soldiers into a state of panic. Ungern's calls for the struggle for the independence of Mongolia and the expulsion of the "Red Chinese" were supported by the broadest sections of Mongolian society. Mongol arat cattle breeders, who suffered in bondage to Chinese usurers, poured into the baron's army. On February 3, 1921, Baron Ungern selected a special shock detachment from the Trans-Baikal Cossacks, Bashkirs and Tatars and personally led him on the offensive on the outskirts of Urga. The shock detachment, like a battering ram, crushed the outposts of the "Red Chinese" and cleared the outskirts of the city from them. Demoralized "Gamin" hastily rushed to retreat to the north. Retreating to the Soviet border, the Chinese soldiers slaughtered hundreds of Russians, including women and children. With a skillful maneuver, Baron Ungern, who had only 66 hundred, i.e., about 5,000 bayonets and sabers, managed to "pincers" the Chinese, who greatly outnumbered him. The capital of Mongolia was liberated.

Soviet historians loved to depict the horrors of Ungern's massacres of the "peaceful" population of Urga. They really took place and there are no excuses for them. However, firstly, as they say, "whose cow would moo", and secondly, one must take into account what caused these massacres.

Urga was ruled by the Red Council, headed by Russian and Jewish communists: the priest Parnikov - the chairman and a certain Sheineman - his deputy. At the initiative of the council, Russian officers, their wives and children, who lived in Urga, were imprisoned, where they were kept in inhuman conditions. Women and innocent children were especially affected. One child froze from cold and hunger, and the prison guards threw the stiff child's corpse out of the prison. The dead child was gnawed by dogs. Chinese outposts caught those fleeing from the Uryankhai region from the Red Russian officers and escorted them to Urga, where the Red Administration put them in prison.

Upon learning of this after the liberation of Urga, Ungern ordered the senior officers present:

I do not divide people by nationality. Everyone is human, but here I will do things differently. If a Jew cruelly and cowardly, like a vile hyena, mocks defenseless Russian officers, their wives and children, I order: when Urga is taken, all Jews must be destroyed, slaughtered. Blood for blood!

As a result, not only Jews who were part of the Red Council were killed, but also innocent civilians - mostly merchants and their families. In fairness, it should be added that the number of Jews killed did not exceed 50 people.

In Urga, Ungern gave the following orders: "For looting and violence against residents - the death penalty. All men should appear on the town square on February 8 at 12 noon. Those who do not do this will be hanged."

Ungern got colossal trophies, including artillery, rifles, machine guns, millions of rounds of ammunition, horses and more than 200 camels loaded with booty. His troops were only 600 miles from Beijing. The Chinese were in a panic. But Ungern was not going to cross the border yet. A campaign against Beijing with the aim of restoring the throne of the overthrown Qing dynasty was planned by him, but at a later time, after the creation of the pan-Mongol state.

Baron Ungern accepted Mongol citizenship, but he never accepted Buddhism, contrary to numerous legends and rumors to this effect! Proof of this, among other things, is the marriage of Ungern to the Qing princess, who, before the wedding, accepted Orthodoxy with the name Maria Pavlovna. The wedding took place in Harbin according to the Orthodox rite. On the standard of Ungern was the image of the Savior, the inscription: "God is with us" and the imperial cypher of Michael II. In gratitude for the liberation of Urga, Bogdo-gegen awarded Ungern the title of khan and the princely title of darkhan-tsin-van.

Under the command of the baron, there were 10,550 soldiers and officers, 21 artillery pieces and 37 machine guns. Meanwhile, in the north, the 5th Red Army approached the borders of Mongolia. Lieutenant General Ungern decided to launch a preemptive strike against her and on May 21, 1921 issued his famous order No. 15. It said: “The Bolsheviks came, the bearers of the idea of destroying the original cultures of the people, and the destruction was brought to an end. Russia must be built anew, in parts. But among the people we see disappointment, distrust of people. He needs names, names known to everyone, dear and honored. There is only one such name - the rightful owner of the Russian Land, EMPEROR OF ALL-RUSSIAN MIKHAIL ALEXANDROVICH. "

On August 1, 1921, Baron Ungern won a victory at the Gusinoozersky datsan, capturing 300 Red Army soldiers, 2 guns, 6 machine guns, 500 rifles and a convoy. The offensive of the whites caused great concern to the Bolshevik authorities of the so-called Far Eastern Republic. Vast territories around Verkhneudinsk were declared under a state of siege, troops were regrouped, and reinforcements arrived. Ungern's hopes for a general uprising did not come true. The baron decided to retreat to Mongolia. But the Mongols did not want to fight anymore, all their "gratitude" quickly dissipated. On the morning of August 20, they tied Ungern and took him to the whites. However, they were soon stumbled upon by a reconnaissance group of the Reds. Baron von Ungern was taken prisoner. Just like the fate of A. V. Kolchak, the fate of the baron was a foregone conclusion even before the start of the trial by Lenin's telegram:

I advise you to pay more attention to this case, to get a check on the solidity of the accusation, and if the proof is complete, which, apparently, there can be no doubt, then arrange a public trial, conduct it as quickly as possible and shoot.

On September 15, 1921, a show trial of Ungern took place in Novonikolaevsk. E. M. Gubelman (Yaroslavsky), the future head of the "Union of Militant Atheists", one of the main persecutors of the Church, was appointed the main accuser at the trial. The whole thing took 5 hours and 20 minutes. Ungern was charged with three counts: actions in the interests of Japan; armed struggle against the Soviet power with the aim of restoring the Romanov dynasty; terror and atrocities. On the same day, Baron Roman Fedorovich Ungern von Sternberg was shot.

Years later, the legend of the "curse of Ungern" began to circulate: allegedly, many who were involved in his arrest, trial, interrogations and his execution died either during the years of the civil war or during the Stalinist repressions.

(When writing the article, materials from the Internet were used).

Baron Robert-Nikolai-Maximilian (Roman Fedorovich) von Ungern-Sternberg was born on December 29, 1885 (old style). He came from an old German-Baltic (Ostsee) count and baronial family, included in the noble matriculae of all three Russian Baltic provinces. The baron grew up in Reval with his stepfather Baron Oskar Fedorovich von Heuningen-Hühne. In 1896, by decision of his mother, he was sent to the St. Petersburg Naval Cadet Corps, upon admission to which the baron changed his name to Russian and became Roman Fedorovich. A year before graduation, during the Russo-Japanese War, von Ungern went to the front as a volunteer of the 1st category in the 91st Dvina Infantry Regiment. However, when Ungern's regiment arrived at the theater of operations in Manchuria, the war was already over. For participation in the campaign against Japan, the baron was awarded a light bronze medal and in November 1905 he was promoted to corporal. In 1906 he entered and in 1908 graduated from the Pavlovsk military school in the 2nd category. From June 1908 he served in the 1st Argun regiment of the Trans-Baikal Cossack army with the rank of cornet. At the end of February 1911 he was transferred to the Amur Cossack Count Muravyov-Amursky Regiment. In July 1913, he resigned and left for Kobdo (Mongolia), where he served in the hundred of Yesaul Komarovsky as a supernumerary officer.

With the outbreak of World War I, Roman Fedorovich entered the 34th Don Cossack Regiment. During the war he was wounded five times. For exploits, courage and courage during the war, the baron was awarded a number of orders. At the end of 1914, the baron moved to the 1st Nerchinsk Regiment. In September 1916, he was promoted from centurions to sub-sauls, and then to yesauls. In October 1916, he was removed from the regiment for breach of discipline. In 1917, Ungern went to Vladivostok, and from there he ended up on the Caucasian front in the 3rd Verkhneudinsky regiment, where he ended up again with his friend from the previous regiment, G. M. Semenov.

In July 1917, Semyonov left Petrograd for Transbaikalia. He was appointed commissar of the Provisional Government in the Far East for the formation of national units. Following him, Baron Ungern went to Transbaikalia. In Irkutsk, Ungern joined Semenov. Having learned about the October Revolution, Semenov, Ungern and 6 other people left for Chita, from there - to the Dauria station in Transbaikalia, where it was decided to form a regiment.

2 Civil war

In December 1917, Semyonov, Ungern and 5 other Cossacks disarmed the demoralized Russian garrison at Manchuria Station. Here Semyonov began to form a Special Manchurian detachment to fight the Reds. At the beginning of 1918, Ungern was appointed commandant of Art. Hailar. The baron disarmed the pro-Bolshevik units stationed there. Successful operations inspired Semyonov and Ungern to expand their operations. They took up the formation of national detachments, including representatives of the Mongols and Buryats. After the appearance in the winter-spring of 1918 in Transbaikalia of numerous echelons with pro-Bolshevik soldiers returning from the collapsed German front, the Semenov detachment was forced to retreat to Manchuria, leaving behind only a small piece of Russian land in the region of the Onon River. In the spring and summer of the year, on the Daurian Front, the Manchurian detachment fought protracted battles with the Reds, in which Ungern participated. After the Soviet power in Transbaikalia fell, Semenov approved his headquarters in Chita in September 1918. Ungern received the rank of major general. He moved from Hailar to Dauria.

On September 1, 1918, a Separate Cavalry Native Brigade was formed in Dauria, on the basis of which the Native Cavalry Corps was later formed, then transformed into the Asian Cavalry Division under the command of Ungern. From Dauria, Ungern made raids against the red partisans of Transbaikalia.

In November 1919, the Red troops approached Transbaikalia. In January-February 1920, they launched a broad offensive. In March, the Reds took Verkhneudinsk, the Semenovites retreated to Chita. In June-July, the Whites launched the last broad offensive in Transbaikalia. Ungern acted in directions to the Alexander and Nerchinsk plants in coordination with the troops of General Molchanov. But the Whites could not withstand the pressure of the superior forces of the Reds. Ungern began to prepare a withdrawal to Mongolia. On August 7, 1920, the Asian division was transformed into a partisan detachment.

3 Trip to Mongolia

In August 1920, the Asian division left Dauria and went in the direction of Mongolia, occupied by Chinese troops. Ungern's army crossed the border with Mongolia on October 1 near the village of Ust-Bukukun and headed southwest. Approaching the capital of Mongolia, Niislel-Khure, the baron entered into negotiations with the Chinese command. All his demands, including the disarmament of the Chinese troops, were rejected. On October 26-27 and November 2-4, 1920, the Ungernists stormed the city, but were defeated, having suffered significant losses. The Chinese tightened the regime in Urga, establishing control over religious services in Buddhist monasteries, engaging in robberies and arrests of Russians and Mongols.

After the defeat, Ungern's army withdrew to the headwaters of the Kerulen River in the Setsen Khan aimag in eastern Mongolia. Here Ungern received moral and material support from all sections of the Mongolian population. The financial situation of the division improved, including through the capture of caravans heading from China to supply the Chinese garrison of Urga. The division was replenished at the expense of separate groups of whites who penetrated from Transbaikalia. Mongolian princes organized the mobilization of the Mongols. The division was dominated by strict cane discipline. The theocratic monarch of Mongolia, Bogdo Gegen VIII, who was under Chinese arrest, secretly sent Ungern his blessing for the expulsion of the Chinese from the country.

4 Assault on Urga

In the two months that have passed since the previous assault, the Asiatic Division has grown to 1,460 men. She had 12 machine guns and 4 guns. The Mongolian population spread rumors that Ungern was forming a large Mongolian army of up to 5 thousand people. This became known to the Chinese command, which during the entire period of occupation did not carry out any fortification work, and could not confirm the accuracy of this information due to the lack of established intelligence.

The very personality of Baron Ungern had a demoralizing effect on the Chinese. One day, when preparations were underway for the assault, he visited the besieged Urga. The baron, dressed in his usual Mongolian attire - in a red-cherry robe, white hat, with a tashur in his hands - simply drove into Urga along the main road, at a medium gait. He visited the palace of the chief Chinese dignitary in Urga, Chen Yi, then returned to his camp past the consular town. On the way back, passing by the prison, he noticed that a Chinese sentry here was sleeping peacefully at his post. This violation of discipline angered the baron. He got off his horse and rewarded the sleeping sentry with several lashes. Ungern explained to the awakened and terribly frightened soldier that it was impossible for the sentry to sleep on guard and that he, Baron Ungern, punished him for this. Then he got back on his horse and calmly rode on. This appearance of Ungern in Urga created a sensation among the population of the city, and plunged the Chinese soldiers into fear and despondency, inspiring them with confidence that some kind of supernatural forces were behind the baron and helping him.

On the night of February 1, 1921, a detachment of Tibetans, Mongols and Buryats headed for the southwestern slope of the Bogdo-ula mountain (south of Urga), where the Bogdo Gegen was under arrest. The main forces of the whites moved to Urga. On the same day, a detachment under the command of Rezukhin captured the advanced positions of the Chinese south of Urga. Two hundred under the command of Khobotov and Neiman approached the city from the southeast. On February 2, Ungern's troops, after fighting, captured the rest of the advanced positions of the Chinese and part of Urga. During these battles, Bogdo-gegen was released from arrest, he was taken to the Manjushri-khiid monastery. This news further demoralized the Chinese.

On February 3, Ungern gave his troops a rest. On the hills around Urga, the whites lit large fires at night, along which Rezukhin's detachment was guided, preparing for a decisive assault. The fires also gave the impression that Ungern was approached by reinforcements that surround the city. On February 4, the baron launched a decisive assault on the capital from the east, first capturing the Chinese barracks and the Maimachen trading settlement. After fierce fighting, the city was captured. Part of the Chinese troops left Urga before and during the fighting. However, small battles took place as early as 5 February.

On March 11-13, Ungern captured the Chinese fortified military base in Choiryn in southern Mongolia; another base, at Zamyn-Uude somewhat to the south, was left without a fight by the Chinese soldiers. The remaining Chinese troops, who retreated from Urga to the north of Mongolia, tried to bypass the capital and make their way to China. In addition, a large number of Chinese soldiers moved in the same direction from Maimachen (near the Russian border near the town of Kyakhta). The Russians and Mongols took this as an attempt to recapture Urga. Several hundred Cossacks and Mongols met several thousand Chinese soldiers in the area of Talyn-Ulan-Khad in the area of the Urga-Ulyasutai tract near the Tola River in central Mongolia. The fighting went from March 30 to April 2. The Chinese were defeated, some surrendered, and some broke south into China. Now all of Outer Mongolia was free.

Urga met the whites as liberators. At first, robberies took place in the city, but soon Ungern severely suppressed them. On February 22, 1921, a solemn ceremony was held for the re-ascension of the Bogd Gegen VIII to the throne of the Great Khan of Mongolia. For services to Mongolia, Ungern was awarded the title of Darkhan-Khoshoi-Chin-Van in the degree of Khan. It is often mistakenly believed that Ungern became the dictator or khan of Mongolia, and the monarchical government was puppet. This is not so: Bogdo Gegen VIII and his government exercised full power. The baron acted with the sanction of the monarch. Ungern received one of the highest titles in Mongolia, but not power.

5 Campaign in Siberia in 1921

Realizing that the White Cause in Russia was lost, Ungern tried to use the dissatisfaction of the people with Soviet power to restore the monarchy in Russia. He also hoped to use the actions of other white units, the monarchists of Mongolia, Manchuria, China and East Turkestan, as well as the Japanese.

On May 21, Ungern issued order No. 15 to “Russian detachments on the territory of Soviet Siberia”, which announced the start of a campaign on Soviet territory. The order specifically stated:
“... among the people we see disappointment, distrust of people. He needs names, names known to all, dear and honored. There is only one such name - the rightful owner of the Land of the Russian Emperor All-Russian Mikhail Alexandrovich ... In the fight against the criminal destroyers and defilers of Russia, remember that as the morals in Russia completely decline and the depravity of mind and body is complete, one cannot be guided by the old assessment. There can be only one measure of punishment - the death penalty of various degrees. The old foundations of justice have changed. There is no "truth and mercy". "Truth and ruthless severity" must now exist. The evil that came to earth to destroy the Divine principle in the human soul must be uprooted ... "

It should be noted that Mikhail Alexandrovich Romanov was killed in Perm in the summer of 1918. But Ungern did not believe in his death.

In the spring of 1921, the Asiatic Division was divided into two brigades: one under the command of Lieutenant General Ungern, the other under Major General Rezukhin. The latter was supposed to cross the border in the area of the village of Tsezhinskaya and, acting on the left bank of the Selenga, go to Mysovsk and Tataurovo along the red rear, blowing up bridges and tunnels along the way. Ungern's brigade attacked Troitskosavsk, Selenginsk and Verkhneudinsk. Ungern's brigade included 2100 fighters, 20 machine guns and 8 guns, Rezukhin's brigade - 1510 fighters, 10 machine guns and 4 guns, parts left in the Urga area - 520 people.

In May, Rezukhin's brigade launched a raid across the border with Russia to the west of the river. Selenga. Ungern's brigade set out from Urga on May 21 and slowly moved north. By this time, the Reds were already moving troops from different directions to the border with Mongolia.

Rezukhin's brigade in Transbaikalia managed to defeat several red detachments. In one of these battles, on June 2, near the village of Zhelturinskaya, K.K. Rokossovsky distinguished himself, who received the second Order of the Red Banner for this. Rezukhin had no connection with the Ungern brigade, as a result of the actions of the Reds, a threat of encirclement was created. On June 8, he began a retreat and with battles left for Mongolia.

Ungern's brigade was defeated in the battles for Troitskosavsk on June 11-13. Then the combined forces of the Bolsheviks and the Red Mongols, after minor battles with the rearguards of Ungern, on July 6 entered Urga, left by the Whites.

Ungern, giving a little rest to his brigade on the river. Iro, led her to connect with Rezukhin. Ungern's brigade approached Rezukhin's brigade on July 7 or 8, but they managed to cross the Selenga and join forces only after 4-5 days. On July 18, the Asiatic division had already moved on its last campaign - to Mysovsk and Verkhneudinsk. The forces of the Asian division at the time of the start of the 2nd campaign were 3250 fighters with 6 guns and 36 machine guns.

On August 11, the baron divided the division into two brigades. Ungern's brigade went forward, and Rezukhin's brigade came out a little later in the rearguard, repulsing the attacks of the pressing Reds. On August 14-15, the Ungernovites crossed the Modonkul char and went to Mongolia.

6 Captivity and execution

Ungern decided to lead the division to the west - to Uryankhai for the winter, in order to subsequently start the fight again. But then he decided to leave for Tibet. Soldiers and officers did not like these plans. There was a conspiracy.

On the night of August 17-18, 1921, Rezukhin died at the hands of his subordinates. On the night of August 18-19, the conspirators fired at the tent of Ungern himself, but the latter managed to escape. The rebellious brigades left in an easterly direction in order to reach Manchuria through the territory of Mongolia.

On the morning of August 19, Ungern met his Mongolian division. The Mongols did not want to continue the fight. On the morning of August 20, they tied Ungern and took him to the whites. However, they were soon stumbled upon by a reconnaissance group of the Reds. Baron von Ungern was taken prisoner.

The fate of the baron was predetermined even before the start of the trial by Lenin's telegram: “I advise you to pay more attention to this case, to check the solidity of the accusation, and if the proof is complete, which, apparently, there is no doubt, then arrange a public trial, conduct it with maximum speed and shoot.

On September 15, 1921, a show trial of Ungern took place in Novonikolaevsk. E. M. Yaroslavsky was appointed the chief prosecutor at the trial. The whole thing took 5 hours and 20 minutes. Ungern was charged on three counts: first, actions in the interests of Japan, which resulted in plans to create a "Central Asian state"; secondly, the armed struggle against the Soviet regime with the aim of restoring the Romanov dynasty; thirdly, terror and atrocities. A number of court accusations are based on facts: in relations with monarchists, in an attempt to create a Central Asian state, in sending out letters and appeals, in gathering an army to overthrow the Soviet regime and restore the monarchy, an attack on the RSFSR and the Far East, reprisals against suspects of being close to Bolshevism, in torture.

Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg was shot on the same day in the building of the Novonikolaevsky GPU.

"The white army, the black baron are again preparing the royal throne for us ..." - this is about Ungern. The song is dashing, but, like any agitation, it does not go into shades. In the White Army, not everyone wanted the revival of autocracy, many were in favor of the Constituent Assembly. And the "black baron" coincided with the whites only in anti-Bolshevism, since he went much further than the most convinced monarchist. If they tried to build a world federation of councils, then the baron dreamed of "global absolutism." The restoration of the "royal throne" was for him only part of the plan.

The Bolsheviks tried to raise the Western countries on their hind legs, however, Ungern also wanted to transform Western Europe, the mother of revolutionary ideas.

The communists hoped for the proletariat, the baron - for the restoration of the empire of Genghis Khan. From the Pacific to the Caspian. And then a powerful horde - to the West. As the baron believed, the white peoples had lost their centuries-old foundations, the only hope for Asia, which is able to renew the Old World.

About the chaos that reigned in the head of the mystic baron, who combined Christianity and Buddhism in his soul, his standard speaks: a yellow banner sheathed in red Mongolian ornament with the image of the Savior Not Made by Hands. And the black swastika is an ancient symbolism, so it is not very clear what meaning Ungern put into it. Then there was an era of boundless ideas and unbridled fantasies, but they left a mark on history.

The Bolsheviks created the USSR, and without the baron there would be no present-day Mongolia, it would still be in China.

Even at that merciless time, Ungern was especially cruel. What he found justification: “The old foundations of justice have changed. There is no“ truth and mercy ”. Now there must be“ truth and ruthless severity. ”And since he understood the truth in a peculiar way, very many who met on his way became victims. but a “mad baron.” The Kappelites threatened to hang Ungern on the nearest branch for discrediting the white idea and the title of a Russian officer.

Like any purebred baron, you can’t immediately pronounce his full name: Robert-Nikolai-Maximilian (Roman Fedorovich) von Ungern-Sternberg. From an old German-Baltic family. The baron himself added the blood of the Huns to this cocktail, finding his ancestors surrounded by Attila. In various biographies, he is called a Russian general, although he received this title not in the tsarist army and not even from or, but from Ataman Semenov. It is possible that he could have become a general earlier, but his violent temper prevented him. Entered the Naval Cadet Corps - expelled for behavior. After graduating from a military school, he went to the Cossack regiment. After a skirmish with a colleague, the court of honor forced him to transfer to another unit on the Amur.

This move to the Chinese border predetermined the further fate of the baron. A couple of years later, having risen to the rank of centurion, he resigns and goes to Mongolia.

The legends about Ungern of that period are a reflection of later events. In fact, at that time he was only in the convoy of the Russian consulate. Another thing is that these years allowed him to fairly "mongolize" and immerse himself in the turbulent political situation in the region. He later returned here. After a break for .

As it quickly became clear, it was war that was his true element. It is no coincidence that the Mongols later revered Ungern as the god of war and believed that he was invulnerable to a bullet. How else? He was wounded five times - he returned to service undertreated. Five orders for bravery.

However, he progressed slowly. In 1916, he became a captain, not so much - a rank equal to a captain in the infantry. We find an explanation from another well-known baron in our history - Pyotr Wrangel (at one time Ungern served under him): "This is not an officer in the generally accepted sense of the word, this is a type of amateur partisan, hunter-tracker from the novels of Mine Reed ... Undoubtedly original and sharp mind, and next to this, a striking lack of culture and an extremely narrow outlook, amazing shyness and even savagery, and next to this, an insane impulse and unbridled irascibility.

In 1917, on the Caucasian front, fate brought Ungern to Ataman Semyonov, with whom, after February, the baron went back to the Far East.

The task - to form national units for the front in Transbaikalia - the friends did not have time to complete,. But the idea itself - reliance on national formations, but now to fight the revolution - remained.

Ungern's detachments resembled the hunghuz - Manchurian bandits, who then hunted in the Far East. The officers are Russians, the privates are Mongols and Buryats. There is only cavalry in the detachment. The main tactic is raids. in Transbaikalia it was carried out with varying success, but when by 1920 a turning point came and Kolchak was shot, the baron with a thousand horsemen left for Mongolia. However, the departure to the territory occupied by the Chinese was caused not only by the changed situation, but also by the plans that formed in the head of the baron. He decided to start the struggle for world absolutism in Manchuria, restoring the monarchies in Mongolia and China. A year before, Ungern had already been here, found the necessary contacts and married Princess Ji from the overthrown Qing dynasty.

On the second attempt, the baron managed to take the Mongol capital Urga and put the Great Khan of Mongolia, Bogdo Gegen VIII, on the throne. This victory brought him not only popularity among the local population, grateful for the liberation from Chinese occupation. The title of the Mongol Khan was added to the baronial title, and the ataman Semenov awarded Ungern the rank of lieutenant general. Finally, it was during the siege of Urga that an episode occurred that turned the "black baron" into a legend.

In order to reconnoiter the situation in Urga, Ungern, dressed in a Mongolian robe with epaulets and the Order of George on his chest, entered the city gates in broad daylight with a leisurely gait.

I looked around the streets, looked into the palace of one of the Chinese dignitaries, and just as slowly left the city. And on the road he taught a lesson to the sleeping sentry: whipping him with a whip for negligence, he ordered to tell the authorities that Baron Ungern had punished him. It was after this that they started talking about the supernatural abilities of the "black baron", and the dubious garrison fell into deep despondency. And although there were many more Chinese, when Ungern's detachment re-attacked, they fled.

Urga was robbed for a long time and thoughtfully, destroying everything Chinese and Jews, whom the baron considered responsible for the spread of revolutionary ideas. Thus, Outer Mongolia, in the smoke of fires and among the mountains of corpses, gained independence. In the end, the result turned out to be, however, the opposite of what the baron had hoped for. After the unsuccessful campaign of Ungern in 1921, the Reds occupied Urga. "Sovietization of Mongolia was not the result of a consistent, thoughtful and organized plan. If it were not for Ungern ... we would not have Sovietized Mongolia," wrote the Bolshevik and diplomat Ioffe.

Versions of how the baron fell into the hands of the Reds are contradictory, but it seems that when Ungern decided to take his defeated detachment to Tibet, the rest did not like it very much.

The officers were shot, and the baron himself, who "did not take a bullet", was tied up and left in the steppe. Where he was found by one of the red partisan detachments.

Upon learning of the baron's arrest, he recommended "arranging a public trial, conducting it as quickly as possible and shooting him." The recommendation was followed exactly. The demonstration process took place in the summer theater of the Sosnovka park in the city of Novo-Nikolaevsk. And it only took five hours and twenty minutes. The sentence is to shoot.

But the legend lives on. Someone is still sure that the baron fled and took refuge in one of the Buddhist monasteries.

And some pessimists believe that the god of war cannot be shot at all. Evil is indestructible.

Baron Ungern is one of the most mysterious and "cult" figures of the Civil War. Buddhist lamas considered him the incarnation of the deity of war, and the Bolsheviks considered him a "primordial monster."

Historians and biographers view Ungern through the prism of "residual" documents, dubious memories and testimonies. The context of archivists gives rise to a very flat image. The only thing that can be concluded is that the baron was a man far from common sense. The rest is thought out by people, surrendering to the indomitable flow of fantasy, and the sleep of the mind, as you know, gives birth to monsters.

Ultimately, in the image of Ungern, we are presented with a paradoxical, or rather, “reckless” character, a kind of romantic “thug”. Some are turned on by it, others are frightened. However, all these "pictures" are very far from the original. I will surprise you, Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg surpassed all the historians studying him put together in rationalism and balance, he did not take a single step, his “performance”, on impulse. And that's why….

"Life is a dream"

In his meeting in Mongolia with the famous occult writer Ferdinand Ossendovsky, Ungern said: “I spent my life in battles and studying Buddhism. Grandfather joined Buddhism in India, my father and I also recognized the teaching and confessed it.”

It is this fact that should become the starting point in the analysis of the personality of the baron. Roman Fedorovich was not just a Buddhist - he professed a very amazing Buddhist philosophical doctrine - Cittamatra, so popular among Tibetan lamas. This doctrine has a very complex system of logic and considers objective reality to be a product of the subject's imagination. In other words, Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg, following the teachings of the Cittamatra, had to be convinced that the world around him was just a game of his mind. Convincing yourself of this is, according to this Buddhist doctrine, the first step towards nirvana, the highest form of spiritual liberation. However, the first step is the most difficult. Tibetan lamas, for example, say that the main condition for "believing" that everything is a dream is simply to go with the flow of life, being content with the role of an indifferent observer - without desires, without ambitions, without goals.

And Roman Fedorovich, following this wisdom, in his younger years gave himself up to drifting: a military career, without any special leaps, flowed as usual, and the baron at that time looked deep into himself. What state von Ungern-Sternberg was then in can be judged by the characteristics of Baron Peter Wrangel, who was “lucky” at one time to be the commander of the “Buddhist”:

“Ragged and dirty, he always sleeps on the floor among the Cossacks of his hundred, eats from a common cauldron and, being brought up in conditions of cultural prosperity, gives the impression of a person completely detached from them. An original, sharp mind, and next to it a striking lack of culture and an extremely narrow outlook. Amazing shyness, unbounded extravagance…”

Pilgrimage

In July 1913, Ungern suddenly comes out of the drift. He resigns - then the baron was in the rank of centurion in the 1st Amur regiment of the Transbaikal Cossack army - and leaves for the Mongolian city of Kobdo. Ungern's formal goal is to join the Mongol rebels in their fight against China. Such impulsiveness for a person practicing the Buddhist system of Cittamatra is quite surprising. Probably, this act was based on a much more significant reason than the desire to help the Mongols. It is unlikely that Roman Fedorovich so easily sacrificed his military career in the Russian Empire in order to enter the Mongolian service. Moreover, he did not succeed in fully participating in the liberation war of the Mongols - peace reigned there.

According to scant information about this period of the baron's life, he spent his time studying the Mongolian language and horse riding at night in the steppe, where he liked to drive wolves. True, other evidence says that von Ungern-Sternberg made a pilgrimage to several Buddhist monasteries and even visited Tibet.

There is even a legend that Ungern resigned to go in search of the legendary underground country of Agharti, which, according to legend, is located somewhere under Mongolia and Tibet. According to the stories of Buddhist lamas, there is the throne of the “king of the world”, who controls the destinies of all mankind.

Later, the writer Ossendovsky will write that at a meeting with Ungern, he discussed Agharti, and he allegedly sent two expeditions in 1921 in search of the legendary country. However, how the search for the "ruler of the fate of the world" ended, remained unknown.

Incarnation of the god of war

Immediately after the outbreak of the First World War, von Ungern-Sternberg interrupted his Mongol adventure, returned to Russia, and then went to the front. In the war, the baron showed courage bordering on recklessness, was wounded five times, but each time death, being face to face with him, was forced to turn aside. One of the baron's colleagues recalled him: "In order to fight like that, you must either seek death, or know for sure that you will not die." Or, I will add from myself, consider myself a god of war.

As you know, Ungern was very interested in astrology. At the time of his highest dawn, he was surrounded by a whole retinue of Tibetan astrologers, without whose "calculations" he did not take a single step.

In the early 1950s, in one of the Indian magazines dedicated to jyotish (Indian astrology), Ungern's astrological chart was published and analyzed. The astrologer drew attention to several aspects in the horoscope. The first is the conjunction of Mars with the so-called ghost planet Rahu. Under such a connection, insane brave men are born, devoid of fear by nature. And most importantly, the self-realization of a person with such a combination is possible only through war. The second aspect, the connection of Venus and another "shadow planet" Ketu in the 12th house of the horoscope, promised the baron "liberation" from reincarnations, nirvana, already in this life.

Looking ahead, I’ll say that after Ungern liberated the Mongolian capital Urga from Chinese troops in February 1921, the council of local lamas declared the baron the incarnation of Mahakala, the deity of war and destruction, who is revered in Tibetan Buddhism as the protector of the teachings of the Buddha. It should be added that the lamas did their “conclusion”, focusing not so much on the military exploits of Ungern, but on the position of the planets in his horoscope.

Guru

As a follower of Buddhism, the baron knew that liberation could not be achieved without a guru. Who was the spiritual mentor of Ungern, we do not know. However, the evidence says that Roman Fedorovich never acted without consulting with the lamas around him. Even the formal numbers of the orders of the commander of the Asiatic Cavalry Division were carefully verified by the numerological calculations of the lamas.

It is unlikely that a guru should be sought in the environment of von Ungern-Sternberg. The true spiritual mentor was, most likely, far from Ungern: maybe in some Mongolian monastery, maybe even in Tibet. The consulting lamas, in all likelihood, were introduced to Ungern by his "sensei."

It is the teacher's order that can explain the fact that in the fall of 1920 Ungern's Asian Cavalry Division broke from its "familiar" place in Transbaikalia and made its famous raid into Mongolia. It is known that the Mongol ruler and high priest, the "living Buddha" among the Mongols, Bogdo Gegen VIII, being under Chinese arrest, secretly sent a message to the baron with a blessing for the liberation of Urga from the Chinese. In the winter of 1921, the baron took the city, breaking the resistance of the Chinese troops, which outnumbered his division by several times. Bogdo Gegen, who regained power in Mongolia, granted Ungern the title of prince. Was he the baron's guru? Hardly. Soon von Ungern-Sternberg would go on a campaign against Soviet Siberia, in which the ruler of liberated Mongolia was hardly interested. This means that the baron was the "spiritual child" of some other person, whose ambitions were in no way limited to Mongolia.

Cleansing Karma

In the Eastern traditions - Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism - the main condition for the final liberation is the purification of karma accumulated over all previous lives. Deliverance is a long process, stretching over many, many incarnations. However, in the same Buddhism there were currents that spoke of the possibility of ending karma in one fell swoop, during one incarnation. The latter is possible if a person accurately fulfills the purpose of his life. It can be found out through your horoscope with the help of a good astrologer or from a spiritual teacher. Ungern in the last year of his life openly declared that his mission was to restore the empire of Genghis Khan. It was for this reason that in the summer of 1921 he went on his Siberian campaign, his last raid. It is interesting that for several months he said that he foresaw his imminent death and almost called the exact time. Does this mean that Ungern was going to restore the empire of Genghis Khan in a fantastically short time? Or was it just a declaration, and the baron himself saw his destiny in death while fulfilling an unrealizable ambition? Let's listen to Roman Fedorovich himself, who wrote in a letter to a Chinese general:

“Now it is unthinkable to think about the restoration of kings in Europe ... For now, it is only possible to begin the restoration of the Middle Kingdom and the peoples that come into contact with it to the Caspian Sea, and then only begin the restoration of the Russian monarchy .. Personally, I don’t need anything. I am glad to die for the restoration of the monarchy, even if not of my own state, but of another.

On the threshold of nirvana

In August 1921, Ungern was captured by the Reds. A few days later, Lenin expressed his proposal: “I advise you to pay more attention to this case, to achieve a check on the solidity of the accusation, and if the proof is complete, which, apparently, there is no doubt, then arrange a public trial, conduct it with maximum speed. and shoot." Trotsky, who headed the Revolutionary Military Council, wanted to hold a trial in Moscow, in front of "all working people." However, the "Red Siberians" persuaded their "elder brothers" to hold a tribunal in Novonikolaevsk (now Novosibirsk). It remains a mystery why Trotsky and Lenin so easily gave up their desire to show the "show" with the "bloody baron" on the "big Moscow screen".

The records of Ungern's interrogations have been preserved in the archives. They are very strange: as if the “commissars” were trying to prove to someone that it was Roman Fedorovich von Ungern-Sternberg who was interrogated. For example, the baron for some reason told during interrogation that he had visited the "living Buddha" Bogdo Gegen VIII several times and that he was very fond of champagne. Or else - to the question of why he wore a cherry Mongolian robe, Ungern answered in order to "be visible to the troops at a far distance." By the way, the dressing gown, in fact, was one of the main evidence that it was the baron who was arrested and shot. Another "evidence" was a photograph of the captive Ungern in this very dressing gown.

This quote from the protocol also looks very suspicious: “I was taken prisoner alive due to the fact that I did not have time to take my own life. He tried to hang himself on a rein, but the latter turned out to be too wide. The Buddhist, whom the Mongols revered as Mahakala, tells the commissars that he cowardly wanted to hang himself ... It looks like a joke.

The document with the protocol of interrogation ends with the words "Answers all questions without exception calmly." Perhaps these are the only words in which one could believe.

They say that the baron was shot, aiming at the chest, in order to then take his brain to Moscow for research. The body was buried in the forest, in an unknown place.

Interestingly, years later, the legend of the “Ungern curse” began to circulate: allegedly, many who were involved in his arrest, trial, interrogations and his execution died either during the years of the Civil War or during Stalinist repressions. In fact, this “legend”, in my opinion, “worked” more not to show the magic of the “bloody baron”, but to confirm once again that on September 15, 1921, the “commissars” shot Ungern.

Life after death

After the news of the execution of the baron, the ruler of Mongolia, Bogdo-gegen, gave the order to hold services for Ungern in all Mongolian churches. True, not everyone believed that the baron was dead. For example, many local Buddhist lamas directly laughed at the news of the execution: is it possible to kill Mahakala with an ordinary bullet?

So, there were rumors that the Reds caught a completely different person, similar to von Ungern-Sternberg, and the liberator of Mongolia himself went to one of the Tibetan monasteries, where he meditates and reads the so-called secret mantra leading to nirvana.

And some said that Ungern found a way to the mysterious country of Agharti and went there with the most devoted comrades-in-arms - to serve the "king of the world." The day will come when evil will finally reign in the world, and at that moment the cavalry division of Roman von Ungern-Sternberg will enter the scene to deal a mortal blow to the forces of evil.

By the way, the day of Ungern's death was analyzed by an astrologer in the same Indian magazine from the 1950s. So - on September 15, 1921, according to the baron's horoscope, four planets connected at once in the so-called "house of death": Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn and the "ghost" Rahu. All this indicated, in the opinion of the astrologer, that von Ungern-Sternberg nevertheless left this world at that very moment. True, at the same time in the "house of enemies" the Sun and Mars, the main planet in the baron's horoscope, united. This combination said, according to the astrologer, that Roman Ungern did not passively accept death, but most likely died in battle. But can astrologers be trusted?