Ogden Daily Standard | 1919-04-04 | Page 8 | 800,000 Men in Bolshevik Army; 250,000 Fighters

800,000 MFN IN BOLSHEVIK ARMY; 250,OOOFIOHTERS BEKNK. March 10. (By Mail) -The arm it -s under the command of the Bolshevik Bol-shevik government In Russia comprise approximately xoo.ooo men but only about 250.0"" ol them are actual combatants, com-batants, according to information received re-ceived here from sources usually considered con-sidered reliable. These forces are divided into fifteen armies of 17,000 combatants each. Twelve of them are described as completely com-pletely organized. Each army consists of two or ihrce divisions and each division di-vision of two, three or four regini n' The number of officers and men in each regiment varies from a few hundred hun-dred to two thousand. L The First army is under command of General Michael Touhatchevsk I, who. until the Bolshevik revolution took place, was a simple lieutenant in an Infantry regiment This military education edu-cation la far from complete, but his general staff is composed entirely of officers who formerly belonged to the Russian general staff, so that they compensate for the deficiencies of their commander-in-chief. The Second army is headed by a well-organized general staff which In- eludes three colonels who formerly belonged to the Russian general staff. The commander-in-chief of the Third army is an Individual who, up ! to the time of the Bolshevik revolu-I revolu-I tion. was a sergeant In one of the regl-' regl-' ments of Siberian Infantry. He also lis supported by a general staff composed com-posed of former Russian staff officers. The fact that so many officers of Lho former Russian army have consented con-sented to serve with the Bolshevlki is I one of the worst features of the sit -lUation In Russia. Without them the (Bolshevlki would have been unable to organize such military forces as are .now at their disposal, and their dictatorship, dicta-torship, based solely on violence, would have ended long ago The artillery equipment of the Bolshevik Bol-shevik armies is declared to be very I incomplete. A division has. on an average, av-erage, from five to eight guns. Munition! Muni-tion! are said to be scarce and their supply Is deficient. Munitions for the 'infantry also are running short. The chief of the central general staff 'of the Bolshevik forces Is a Lett nam-I nam-I ed Watsetia.