WEBVTT 00:00:01.300 --> 00:00:05.040 Imagine a massive sprawling battlefield. The 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:08.480 stakes are nothing less than the control of empires. 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:11.220 And when you picture that, you probably picture 00:00:11.220 --> 00:00:15.119 brilliant tactical maneuvers. Sure, the deafening 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:18.239 roar of artillery. Exactly. Generals outsmarting 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:20.620 each other in this deadly high stakes game of 00:00:20.620 --> 00:00:23.199 chess. But what if I told you about a campaign 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:25.339 that was decided not by bullets or brilliant 00:00:25.339 --> 00:00:29.699 tactics, but by the sheer terrifying power of 00:00:29.699 --> 00:00:32.500 winter. And an almost incomprehensible level 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:35.859 of human hubris. Yes. Welcome to this deep dive. 00:00:36.039 --> 00:00:38.359 We are ready and humbled to explore this history 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:41.000 with you today. We've got an absolutely fascinating 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:43.899 and frankly deeply somber story to unpack. It 00:00:43.899 --> 00:00:46.000 truly is a tragic study in command breakdown. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:49.039 This campaign is, well, it's a definitive historical 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:51.780 example of how reality, specifically the environment, 00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:54.320 can completely shatter even the most meticulously 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:57.280 drawn plans. Especially when leadership just 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:59.799 completely refuses to acknowledge the facts on 00:00:59.799 --> 00:01:01.859 the ground. Exactly. So today we are unpacking 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:04.260 the historical records and accounts of the Battle 00:01:04.260 --> 00:01:06.340 of Syracomish. Which was a massive confrontation. 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:10.879 Huge. It took place from December 1914 to January 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:14.439 1915, right at the dawn of the First World War. 00:01:15.150 --> 00:01:17.370 We're going to take you through how a strategy 00:01:17.370 --> 00:01:20.150 that looked utterly perfect on paper turned into 00:01:20.150 --> 00:01:22.930 one of the most devastating military disasters 00:01:22.930 --> 00:01:25.409 of the entire conflict. The goal here is to give 00:01:25.409 --> 00:01:28.549 you a front row seat to exactly why logistics, 00:01:29.090 --> 00:01:31.969 weather, and basic reality must always, always 00:01:31.969 --> 00:01:35.069 trump grand ambitions. OK, so to really understand 00:01:35.069 --> 00:01:38.829 how this disaster unfolded, we first need to 00:01:38.829 --> 00:01:41.209 set the geopolitical stage for you. Yeah, if 00:01:41.209 --> 00:01:42.989 we connect this to the bigger picture, you have 00:01:42.989 --> 00:01:46.230 two massive empires colliding in the brutal terrain 00:01:46.230 --> 00:01:48.609 of the Caucasus region. The Russian Empire and 00:01:48.609 --> 00:01:50.930 the Ottoman Empire. Precisely. Now for Russia, 00:01:51.250 --> 00:01:53.510 this front was actually secondary. Which is an 00:01:53.510 --> 00:01:55.739 important distinction to make. Very. Their primary 00:01:55.739 --> 00:01:57.859 focus and the vast majority of their trained 00:01:57.859 --> 00:02:00.180 manpower and resources were deeply tied up in 00:02:00.180 --> 00:02:02.500 the European theater against Germany and Austria 00:02:02.500 --> 00:02:04.099 -Hungary. Right. But for the Ottoman Empire, 00:02:04.180 --> 00:02:06.239 it was a totally different story. Yes. For the 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:09.159 Ottomans, the Caucasus was a primary vital front. 00:02:09.639 --> 00:02:13.400 And the Ottomans had very specific, highly ambitious 00:02:13.400 --> 00:02:14.639 goals here, didn't they? I mean, they weren't 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:17.080 just looking to hold a line in the snow. Far 00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:19.469 from it. The Ottoman strategic objectives were 00:02:19.469 --> 00:02:22.289 multi -layered and very aggressive. First, they 00:02:22.289 --> 00:02:25.150 wanted to retake lost territories. Like where, 00:02:25.310 --> 00:02:27.710 specifically? Specifically places like the fortress 00:02:27.710 --> 00:02:30.729 city of Kars and the vital port of Batum. Oh, 00:02:30.729 --> 00:02:32.849 right, which they had lost to the Russian Empire 00:02:32.849 --> 00:02:35.810 decades earlier, back in 1877, I believe. That 00:02:35.810 --> 00:02:38.669 is correct. But beyond simply reclaiming land, 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:41.330 they had their eyes firmly fixed on accessing 00:02:41.330 --> 00:02:44.250 the extremely valuable hydrocarbon resources 00:02:44.250 --> 00:02:47.689 situated around the Caspian Sea. Oil. It always 00:02:47.689 --> 00:02:49.770 comes back to oil, doesn't it? It often does. 00:02:49.849 --> 00:02:52.289 And on a broader, almost ideological level, they 00:02:52.289 --> 00:02:54.789 hope a successful, lightning -fast offensive 00:02:54.789 --> 00:02:57.990 might push all the way to Tbilisi and spark a 00:02:57.990 --> 00:03:00.389 widespread Muslim revolt against Russian rule 00:03:00.389 --> 00:03:02.710 throughout the entire Caucasus region. Okay, 00:03:02.789 --> 00:03:04.789 let's unpack this strategy, because the man behind 00:03:04.789 --> 00:03:06.830 it is crucial to understanding this whole tragedy. 00:03:07.389 --> 00:03:09.789 We need to introduce the architect of this impending 00:03:09.789 --> 00:03:13.229 disaster. The Ottoman Minister of War is Malenver 00:03:13.229 --> 00:03:16.800 Pasha. Right. So picture this. Enver Pasha sits 00:03:16.800 --> 00:03:19.900 in his warm office in Istanbul and draws up an 00:03:19.900 --> 00:03:22.680 operational plan that is staggering in its ambition. 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:25.259 Staggering is the right word. He envisions a 00:03:25.259 --> 00:03:28.300 highly complex single envelopment maneuver. Okay, 00:03:28.300 --> 00:03:29.860 for those of you trying to visualize the map, 00:03:30.500 --> 00:03:32.900 essentially this means pinning the rushy forces 00:03:32.900 --> 00:03:35.680 in place with a frontal assault. While simultaneously 00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:38.819 swinging a massive sweeping force around their 00:03:38.819 --> 00:03:41.180 flank to cut off their retreat and trap them. 00:03:41.259 --> 00:03:43.870 Like a giant pincer movement. And to do this, 00:03:44.129 --> 00:03:46.650 he plans to utilize three entire Army Corps. 00:03:46.810 --> 00:03:49.729 The I -X, X, and N -I Corps. We're talking about 00:03:49.729 --> 00:03:53.080 an offensive force of roughly 90 ,000 men. It's 00:03:53.080 --> 00:03:55.599 important to contextualize what kind of military 00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:58.360 doctrine Enver Pasha was relying on here. His 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:00.860 strategy was heavily based on German military 00:04:00.860 --> 00:04:03.340 principles of the era. The Schlieffen plan mindset, 00:04:03.379 --> 00:04:05.740 right? Exactly. This is a doctrine that relies 00:04:05.740 --> 00:04:08.620 on clockwork precision. It requires highly mobile 00:04:08.620 --> 00:04:11.379 troops reaching very specific geographical objectives 00:04:11.379 --> 00:04:14.300 at exact predetermined times. Which sounds great 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:17.639 on a drafting table. Right. But it demands perfect 00:04:17.639 --> 00:04:21.060 coordination, seamless communication across vast 00:04:21.060 --> 00:04:24.759 distances, and crucially, perfect environmental 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:27.459 conditions to execute successfully. And a plan 00:04:27.459 --> 00:04:30.660 optimized for perfect conditions is a plan guaranteed 00:04:30.660 --> 00:04:33.439 to fail in reality. Precisely. and the conditions 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:36.519 in the Caucasus in December were the exact opposite 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:38.860 of perfect. What's fascinating here is the sheer 00:04:38.860 --> 00:04:41.879 scale of the disconnect between Enver Pasha's 00:04:41.879 --> 00:04:45.040 paper map in Istanbul and the actual ground truth 00:04:45.040 --> 00:04:47.560 of the Caucasus Mountains. The war zone was a 00:04:47.560 --> 00:04:50.600 high -altitude plateau, averaging 1 ,500 to 2 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:52.819 ,000 meters above sea level. That's what, over 00:04:52.819 --> 00:04:55.870 6 ,000 feet? Around there, yes. At that elevation 00:04:55.870 --> 00:04:58.009 in late December, you aren't just dealing with 00:04:58.009 --> 00:05:00.110 cold weather. You're dealing with an actively 00:05:00.110 --> 00:05:02.930 hostile frozen wasteland. Furthermore, the roads 00:05:02.930 --> 00:05:05.430 on his map weren't really roads at all. Aside 00:05:05.430 --> 00:05:08.050 from a few narrow mountain passes, they were 00:05:08.050 --> 00:05:10.310 little more than impassable dirt tracks. Which 00:05:10.310 --> 00:05:12.629 couldn't possibly support heavy artillery. Let 00:05:12.629 --> 00:05:15.069 alone the massive supply wagons needed to feed 00:05:15.069 --> 00:05:17.790 90 ,000 men. Which brings us to a staggering 00:05:17.790 --> 00:05:20.470 detail from the historical accounts. It's something 00:05:20.470 --> 00:05:23.360 that just drops your jaw when you read it. Let's 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:25.639 look at the contrast in preparation between the 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:28.399 two armies. It is a very stark contrast. On the 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:31.040 Russian side, you have troops equipped with heavy 00:05:31.040 --> 00:05:33.819 winter gear. They have a well -organized medical 00:05:33.819 --> 00:05:36.160 system established behind their lines. And most 00:05:36.160 --> 00:05:39.660 importantly, they control the car's broad gauge 00:05:39.660 --> 00:05:42.139 railway line. Right, running right to the terminal 00:05:42.139 --> 00:05:44.600 at the town of Sarikamish. That railway is their 00:05:44.600 --> 00:05:47.240 logistical nervous system. It's constantly bringing 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:49.720 them fresh supplies, reinforcements, and providing 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:52.829 a way to evacuate their wounded. And then you 00:05:52.829 --> 00:05:55.750 look at the Ottoman side. The contrast is horrifying. 00:05:56.009 --> 00:05:59.089 It honestly defies belief. Tens of thousands 00:05:59.089 --> 00:06:01.670 of Ottoman soldiers were sent into a high -altitude 00:06:01.670 --> 00:06:04.430 winter mountain campaign wearing standard -issue 00:06:04.430 --> 00:06:07.230 summer uniforms. No heavy coats. No winter boots. 00:06:07.509 --> 00:06:09.870 Nothing. And for rations. The records show they 00:06:09.870 --> 00:06:12.329 were carrying just dry bread and olives. Dry 00:06:12.329 --> 00:06:15.110 bread and olives. That is the caloric fuel they 00:06:15.110 --> 00:06:17.889 were expected to survive on while hiking through 00:06:17.889 --> 00:06:20.589 blizzards at 2 ,000 meters. Which is why the 00:06:20.589 --> 00:06:23.029 non -combat casualty rate was catastrophic from 00:06:23.029 --> 00:06:25.889 the very beginning. Even before the main battle 00:06:25.889 --> 00:06:28.870 lines engaged, the Ottomans were losing approximately 00:06:28.870 --> 00:06:31.910 500 soldiers a day in their field hospitals. 00:06:32.089 --> 00:06:35.230 500 a day? Yes. With massive numbers succumbing 00:06:35.230 --> 00:06:38.089 to typhus and severe frostbite, the environment 00:06:38.089 --> 00:06:40.149 was decimating them before the Russians even 00:06:40.149 --> 00:06:43.470 fired a shot. And yet Enver Pasha relentlessly 00:06:43.470 --> 00:06:47.180 pushed forward. He did. But wait. If it was this 00:06:47.180 --> 00:06:49.399 obvious that the conditions were unsurvivable, 00:06:49.720 --> 00:06:51.579 someone must have spoken up, right? I mean, how 00:06:51.579 --> 00:06:53.939 does an army just march into a frozen meat grinder 00:06:53.939 --> 00:06:56.160 without the leadership sounding the alarm? There 00:06:56.160 --> 00:07:00.019 was an alarm sounded, actually, loudly, by the 00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:02.439 man actually on the ground. Oh really? Who was 00:07:02.439 --> 00:07:05.040 that? The voice of reason in the scenario was 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:07.579 the initial Ottoman commander of the Third Army, 00:07:07.839 --> 00:07:11.060 Hasan Izzet Pasha. He looked at the jagged terrain, 00:07:11.399 --> 00:07:13.139 he looked at the sheer lack of infrastructure, 00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:15.740 he looked at his men shivering in their summer 00:07:15.740 --> 00:07:18.759 uniforms, and he saw the total disaster coming 00:07:18.759 --> 00:07:21.259 from a mile away. So what did he do? On December 00:07:21.259 --> 00:07:24.519 18th, he sent an urgent telegram directly to 00:07:24.519 --> 00:07:27.540 Enver Pasha. He warned him that the grand outflanking 00:07:27.540 --> 00:07:30.439 maneuver was far too risky. Did he propose an 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:32.839 alternative? He explained that the troops would 00:07:32.839 --> 00:07:35.879 be in a terrible exposed position once they finally 00:07:35.879 --> 00:07:38.079 came out of the mountains, and that a failure 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:40.379 would turn the entire expedition and the harsh 00:07:40.379 --> 00:07:43.480 winter totally against them. He practically begged 00:07:43.480 --> 00:07:46.660 to just take a defensive fortified posture and 00:07:46.660 --> 00:07:49.439 wait out the winter. He did. And when Enver explicitly 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:52.360 refused to relent, demanding the offensive continue, 00:07:52.920 --> 00:07:55.720 Hassan Izzet Pasha sent another telegram later 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:58.639 that same day. Let me guess. He effectively resigned 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:02.250 his command. Wow. He just quit. He stated he 00:08:02.250 --> 00:08:04.529 lacked the strength and confidence to carry out 00:08:04.529 --> 00:08:07.149 these impossible movements, citing that he was 00:08:07.149 --> 00:08:10.329 disturbed by an extraordinary nervousness. Extraordinary 00:08:10.329 --> 00:08:12.170 nervousness. That's a very polite way of saying 00:08:12.170 --> 00:08:15.290 this is a suicide mission. Exactly. He chose 00:08:15.290 --> 00:08:18.290 to step down rather than lead his men into what 00:08:18.290 --> 00:08:21.470 he knew without a doubt was certain doom. You 00:08:21.470 --> 00:08:23.050 know, you've probably seen this in your own life 00:08:23.050 --> 00:08:27.389 or career. What happens when a leader falls so 00:08:27.389 --> 00:08:30.399 in love with their own brilliant plan? that they 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:32.399 completely ignore the people on the ground telling 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:34.620 them it's impossible. It's a universal problem. 00:08:34.980 --> 00:08:36.980 But if the commanding general resigns because 00:08:36.980 --> 00:08:39.580 it's a suicide mission, you have to ask why the 00:08:39.580 --> 00:08:41.659 other generals didn't mutiny. Right. How did 00:08:41.659 --> 00:08:45.179 Enver Pasha command that much blind loyalty to 00:08:45.179 --> 00:08:47.649 push this through? That comes down to the immense 00:08:47.649 --> 00:08:50.529 political power Enver Pasha wielded at the time. 00:08:50.649 --> 00:08:52.889 He wasn't just a military commander. He was a 00:08:52.889 --> 00:08:54.990 political heavyweight. He was a core leader of 00:08:54.990 --> 00:08:58.149 the Young Turk Revolution and effectively running 00:08:58.149 --> 00:09:00.950 the empire as part of a triumvirate. He had built 00:09:00.950 --> 00:09:03.490 a cult of personality and absolute authority. 00:09:03.830 --> 00:09:06.429 So questioning him wasn't just military and subordination. 00:09:06.490 --> 00:09:09.269 It was political treason. So when Hasan Izzet 00:09:09.269 --> 00:09:12.110 Pasha resigns, Enver doesn't rethink the plan. 00:09:12.350 --> 00:09:14.730 He travels to the front line himself, strips 00:09:14.730 --> 00:09:17.370 away any dissenting voices, and simply assumes 00:09:17.370 --> 00:09:20.129 direct personal command of the third army. It 00:09:20.129 --> 00:09:23.549 is a terrifying historical lesson. When a leader 00:09:23.549 --> 00:09:26.129 actively silences the experts, telling them the 00:09:26.129 --> 00:09:28.250 physical laws of nature make a plan impossible, 00:09:28.809 --> 00:09:31.789 the results are always devastating. Always. Only 00:09:31.789 --> 00:09:34.659 here. The cost was measured in tens of thousands 00:09:34.659 --> 00:09:38.600 of lives, and that rigid adherence to the timetable 00:09:38.600 --> 00:09:41.320 immediately starts to unravel once the troops 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:43.600 actually step off into the snow. The initial 00:09:43.600 --> 00:09:46.340 maneuvers are a tragic study in the fog of war. 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:49.440 You have exhausted, freezing men trying to navigate 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:52.259 impossible terrain, and the communication breakdown 00:09:52.259 --> 00:09:55.059 is almost immediate. Let's trace this march into 00:09:55.059 --> 00:09:57.580 the frozen hell because the blunders are systemic. 00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:01.460 So it's December 23rd. The Ottoman X Corps advancing, 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:04.019 trying to position themselves for the great pincer 00:10:04.019 --> 00:10:05.740 movement. Right. Due to the blinding weather, 00:10:05.899 --> 00:10:08.220 the sheer cliffs and horrific communication lines, 00:10:08.700 --> 00:10:11.139 the Ottoman 32nd Division spots movement in the 00:10:11.139 --> 00:10:13.259 distance. Believing they've found the Russian 00:10:13.259 --> 00:10:16.399 flank, they open up with heavy artillery and 00:10:16.399 --> 00:10:18.820 concentrated rifle fire. The tragedy, of course, 00:10:19.019 --> 00:10:21.059 being that they were firing on their own men. 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:24.080 The Ottoman 31st Division. Just imagine the psychological 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:27.019 toll of that. You are freezing. You are starving 00:10:27.019 --> 00:10:30.580 on dry bread. suddenly you were under heavy bombardment 00:10:30.580 --> 00:10:33.679 from your own side. Two entire Ottoman divisions 00:10:33.679 --> 00:10:37.340 engaged in a brutal desperate firefight with 00:10:37.340 --> 00:10:40.100 each other for two straight hours before anyone 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:43.960 realized the fatal mistake. Two hours. It perfectly 00:10:43.960 --> 00:10:46.139 sets the tone for the absolute command breakdown 00:10:46.139 --> 00:10:48.980 that defines this entire march. And the cascade 00:10:48.980 --> 00:10:51.500 of fatal errors only accelerates from there. 00:10:52.000 --> 00:10:54.399 Hafaz Haku, the commander of that same X Corps, 00:10:54.799 --> 00:10:57.940 decides to deviate from Enver Pasha's meticulously 00:10:57.940 --> 00:11:00.320 timed plan. Why would you do that? He spots a 00:11:00.320 --> 00:11:02.820 retreating Russian brigade and makes the fateful 00:11:02.820 --> 00:11:05.220 decision to pursue them, pushing his exhausted 00:11:05.220 --> 00:11:09.360 troops into the town of Ultur. To boost his soldiers' 00:11:09.559 --> 00:11:11.840 flagging morale, he allows them to pillage the 00:11:11.840 --> 00:11:14.500 town. Which historically is a grim reality of 00:11:14.500 --> 00:11:17.200 warfare. But in this specific logistical nightmare, 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:19.659 there was a massive tactical consequence to this 00:11:19.659 --> 00:11:22.659 detour, wasn't there? A devastating one. By stopping 00:11:22.659 --> 00:11:25.419 to pillage Oltu, the Ottoman tubes burned precious 00:11:25.419 --> 00:11:27.919 time and calories. And worse, they destroyed 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:29.779 the local provisions. Wait, they destroyed the 00:11:29.779 --> 00:11:32.409 food. They essentially ransacked and ruined the 00:11:32.409 --> 00:11:35.049 very food, livestock, and supplies that could 00:11:35.049 --> 00:11:37.009 have sustained their own army for the coming 00:11:37.009 --> 00:11:39.889 days. Unbelievable. Furthermore, this unauthorized 00:11:39.889 --> 00:11:42.610 detour extended the marching distance for his 00:11:42.610 --> 00:11:45.750 forces by roughly 40 kilometers. 40 kilometers 00:11:45.750 --> 00:11:49.250 in deep snow. In those mountains, 40 kilometers 00:11:49.250 --> 00:11:52.490 is an eternity. It completely severed the physical 00:11:52.490 --> 00:11:54.889 and telegraphic communication between the X Corps 00:11:54.889 --> 00:11:58.419 and the IX Corps. So the entire left flank of 00:11:58.419 --> 00:12:01.139 Enver's Grand Pincer movement was suddenly marching 00:12:01.139 --> 00:12:04.519 blind. Blind, starving, and totally disconnected 00:12:04.519 --> 00:12:06.980 from the main army. Which leads us to the emotional 00:12:06.980 --> 00:12:09.700 and horrific core of this entire deep dive. It 00:12:09.700 --> 00:12:12.759 is now December 25th and 26th. Despite the delays, 00:12:12.940 --> 00:12:15.179 the lack of food, and the severed communications, 00:12:15.899 --> 00:12:18.700 Enver orders the IX and X Corps to march directly 00:12:18.700 --> 00:12:21.039 into the Alahook Burr Mountains to complete the 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:23.019 envelopment. The terrain they were ordered to 00:12:23.019 --> 00:12:25.360 cross is incredibly rugged, characterized by 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:28.259 steep, jagged ascents entirely covered in deep, 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:31.059 treacherous snow. The soldiers are beyond exhausted. 00:12:31.259 --> 00:12:33.240 They have no winter coats. Their summer uniforms 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:35.960 are soaked and freezing. And they are trying 00:12:35.960 --> 00:12:38.960 to traverse mountain passes that require at least 00:12:38.960 --> 00:12:42.940 19 hours of continuous grueling marching just 00:12:42.940 --> 00:12:45.460 to cross a single ridge. And then the severe 00:12:45.460 --> 00:12:47.539 snowstorm hits. We have to bring in the brutal 00:12:47.539 --> 00:12:49.759 numbers from the historical records here to truly 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:53.679 grasp the scale of the devastation. Hafiz Haka's 00:12:53.679 --> 00:12:56.220 X Corps went into those mountains with over 30 00:12:56.220 --> 00:12:59.360 ,000 men. Yes. When they finally staggered out 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.159 on the other side on the night of December 26th, 00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:04.779 their numbers had been reduced to just 3 ,200. 00:13:05.049 --> 00:13:07.570 Let that sink in for a moment. They lost roughly 00:13:07.570 --> 00:13:09.870 90 percent of their fighting strength to the 00:13:09.870 --> 00:13:12.090 elements before even engaging the main Russian 00:13:12.090 --> 00:13:14.649 line. 90 percent. According to the chief of staff 00:13:14.649 --> 00:13:17.490 of the I -X Corps, Sherif Eldin, an estimated 00:13:17.490 --> 00:13:20.549 10 ,000 soldiers froze to death in the Alahoukber 00:13:20.549 --> 00:13:23.049 mountains without ever firing a single shot at 00:13:23.049 --> 00:13:25.389 the enemy. Men simply sat down in the snow from 00:13:25.389 --> 00:13:28.669 exhaustion and never woke up. It is an unfathomable 00:13:28.669 --> 00:13:31.549 level of suffering. It really is. And there is 00:13:31.549 --> 00:13:34.009 one incredibly haunting detail from the source 00:13:34.009 --> 00:13:36.789 text that really stuck with me. While these soldiers 00:13:36.789 --> 00:13:39.490 were dying by the thousands, freezing to death 00:13:39.490 --> 00:13:41.889 in ditches and off cliffs in the pitch black 00:13:41.889 --> 00:13:45.149 of a blizzard. The officers? Yes. The records 00:13:45.149 --> 00:13:47.370 indicate that division commanders and officers 00:13:47.370 --> 00:13:50.649 managed to survive the night by huddling together 00:13:50.649 --> 00:13:55.000 under oil cloths. It is a stark terrible representation 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:57.279 of the gap between the leadership making the 00:13:57.279 --> 00:14:00.559 fatal decisions and the rank -and -file men paying 00:14:00.559 --> 00:14:03.080 the ultimate price for those decisions. The commanders 00:14:03.080 --> 00:14:05.600 survive under canvas while their army literally 00:14:05.600 --> 00:14:08.840 freezes into the mountainside. Exactly. So the 00:14:08.840 --> 00:14:11.720 shattered frostbitten remnants of this army finally 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:13.960 stumble out of the mountains and they set their 00:14:13.960 --> 00:14:16.100 sights on their objective. The town of Sarah 00:14:16.100 --> 00:14:18.340 Commish. This brings us to the actual siege, 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:21.419 which is a story of incredible contrasts. You 00:14:21.419 --> 00:14:23.480 have to remember why Sarah Kamesh was the target. 00:14:23.620 --> 00:14:26.080 It was the vital terminal of that Russian broad 00:14:26.080 --> 00:14:28.740 gauge railway line. The logistical heart of the 00:14:28.740 --> 00:14:31.159 Russian front. If the Ottomans captured the town 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:33.779 and the railyard, the entire Russian army in 00:14:33.779 --> 00:14:36.100 the region would be cut off, starved to supplies 00:14:36.100 --> 00:14:39.000 with no escape route. But the town itself was 00:14:39.000 --> 00:14:41.179 incredibly vulnerable at the start of the siege. 00:14:41.860 --> 00:14:44.059 Our sources show it was initially defended by 00:14:44.059 --> 00:14:47.600 a makeshift force of just 2 ,000 men. Just 2 00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:50.320 ,000. We're talking railway workers, local militia, 00:14:50.419 --> 00:14:52.899 and a few scattered reserve units. These weren't 00:14:52.899 --> 00:14:56.500 elite infantry. If Enver's 90 ,000 troops hadn't 00:14:56.500 --> 00:14:58.980 been absolutely decimated by the cold and his 00:14:58.980 --> 00:15:01.139 terrible planning, they would have rolled over 00:15:01.139 --> 00:15:03.740 Sarikamish in a matter of hours. That is the 00:15:03.740 --> 00:15:06.720 great what -if of the entire campaign. Because 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:09.580 the Ottoman forces were so delayed, disjointed, 00:15:09.740 --> 00:15:12.340 and physically weakened by the mountains, those 00:15:12.340 --> 00:15:14.779 2 ,000 Russian defenders were able to hold the 00:15:14.779 --> 00:15:17.019 line just long enough. It gave the Russian command 00:15:17.019 --> 00:15:19.519 time to frantically funnel reinforcements down 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:22.259 that vital rail line. But what's truly revealing 00:15:22.259 --> 00:15:24.820 here is the total contrast in leadership between 00:15:24.820 --> 00:15:27.460 the two sides as the siege develops. Right. Let's 00:15:27.460 --> 00:15:30.519 look at the Ottoman side first. Emre Pasha has 00:15:30.519 --> 00:15:32.539 personally overseen the destruction of his own 00:15:32.539 --> 00:15:35.240 army through exposure, but his hubris remains 00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:38.340 completely intact. He refuses to see the reality 00:15:38.340 --> 00:15:40.659 in front of him. He stubbornly issues direct 00:15:40.659 --> 00:15:43.399 orders to attack without regard for casualties. 00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:48.080 Even then. Yes. He forces his starving frostbitten 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:50.639 survivors, men who can barely hold their rifles 00:15:50.639 --> 00:15:53.899 into relentless suicidal frontal assaults against 00:15:53.899 --> 00:15:56.259 steadily reinforced Russian trench positions 00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:58.919 in the snow. It's madness. He remains completely 00:15:58.919 --> 00:16:01.480 pathologically detached from the physical limitations 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:04.139 of his remaining forces. But the Russian leadership 00:16:04.139 --> 00:16:06.960 isn't exactly a picture of calm competence either, 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:09.679 at least initially. In fact, they almost handed 00:16:09.679 --> 00:16:12.200 the victory to Enver through sheer panic. No, 00:16:12.299 --> 00:16:14.639 they certainly didn't start strong. General Mishelievsky, 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:16.740 the Russian deputy commander of the Caucasus 00:16:16.740 --> 00:16:19.120 army, was actually on the verge of total panic. 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:21.379 Despite holding the town? Yes, despite holding 00:16:21.379 --> 00:16:23.980 the town, he genuinely believed the Turkish encirclement 00:16:23.980 --> 00:16:26.379 was going to succeed and wipe them all out. OK, 00:16:26.440 --> 00:16:28.820 here's where it gets really interesting. Why 00:16:28.820 --> 00:16:32.039 was Mishlaevsky so terrified of an Ottoman army 00:16:32.039 --> 00:16:34.600 that was already mostly frozen to death? It all 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:38.039 comes down to a massive, incredibly timed intelligence 00:16:38.039 --> 00:16:41.440 coup. Right. On December 24th, just as the siege 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:43.879 was beginning to take shape, Russian patrols 00:16:43.879 --> 00:16:46.120 managed to capture an Ottoman chief of staff 00:16:46.120 --> 00:16:48.990 named Nisuhi Bey. And what did they find when 00:16:48.990 --> 00:16:51.950 they searched his pockets? A complete translated 00:16:51.950 --> 00:16:55.429 copy of Enver Pasha's exact overarching attack 00:16:55.429 --> 00:16:59.350 orders. Exactly. Imagine you are General Mishelovsky, 00:16:59.769 --> 00:17:02.009 you read these captured orders, and you see on 00:17:02.009 --> 00:17:04.509 paper that two entire full -strength Ottoman 00:17:04.509 --> 00:17:07.309 corps, the I -X and the X, representing tens 00:17:07.309 --> 00:17:09.930 of thousands of men, are executing a massive 00:17:09.930 --> 00:17:12.289 pincer movement designed to bear down on your 00:17:12.289 --> 00:17:14.369 position at Serikamish. Which sounds terrifying. 00:17:14.630 --> 00:17:16.930 The sheer scale of the written plan breaks his 00:17:16.930 --> 00:17:19.769 nerve. He genuinely believes his forces are about 00:17:19.769 --> 00:17:22.789 to be annihilated by nearly 70 ,000 men. So what 00:17:22.789 --> 00:17:25.430 does he do? He flees, he outright abandons the 00:17:25.430 --> 00:17:27.910 front, gets in a car, and runs all the way back 00:17:27.910 --> 00:17:30.369 to Tbilisi, leaving the defense of the town with 00:17:30.369 --> 00:17:32.970 no official supreme commander. He didn't realize 00:17:32.970 --> 00:17:35.430 that those two terrifying Ottoman corps he read 00:17:35.430 --> 00:17:37.849 about on the paper had already been effectively 00:17:37.849 --> 00:17:40.349 wiped out by the weather in the mountains. The 00:17:40.349 --> 00:17:43.869 paper didn't reflect reality. Precisely. The 00:17:43.869 --> 00:17:47.160 map is not the territory. But his cowardly flight 00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:50.099 leaves a massive leadership vacuum at the most 00:17:50.099 --> 00:17:54.720 critical moment of the battle. is General Nikolay 00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:58.579 Yudinich. Yes. Unlike Mishlyevsky, Yudinich doesn't 00:17:58.579 --> 00:18:01.339 panic at the idea of the Ottoman plan. He looks 00:18:01.339 --> 00:18:04.079 at the actual weakened state of the Ottoman troops 00:18:04.079 --> 00:18:06.480 in front of him. He sees reality. He assumes 00:18:06.480 --> 00:18:10.160 command, organizes a staunch layered defense 00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:13.039 of Sarikamish, and brilliantly uses the railway 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:16.059 to steadily build up his troop numbers. He basically 00:18:16.059 --> 00:18:18.279 bleeds the Ottoman assaults dry until he has 00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:20.660 the strength to launch a devastating, highly 00:18:20.660 --> 00:18:22.740 coordinated counteroffensive. Which leads to 00:18:22.640 --> 00:18:25.240 to the total final collapse of the Ottoman forces. 00:18:25.339 --> 00:18:27.299 The numbers at the end of this siege are just 00:18:27.299 --> 00:18:30.160 agonizing to read. Let's trace the Ottoman IX 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:32.759 Corps. They started this campaign with a fighting 00:18:32.759 --> 00:18:35.400 strength of roughly 28 ,000 men. By the time 00:18:35.400 --> 00:18:37.740 Yudinich's counteroffensive surrounds them and 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:40.559 the siege officially ends on January 4th, the 00:18:40.559 --> 00:18:43.599 entire IX Corps is forced to surrender. Out of 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:46.480 28 ,000 men, do you know how many were left standing 00:18:46.480 --> 00:18:49.539 to surrender? It's a shocking figure. 104 soldiers 00:18:49.539 --> 00:18:53.279 and 106 officers. From 28 ,000 men down to just 00:18:53.279 --> 00:18:57.380 over 200, it is an almost unprecedented total 00:18:57.380 --> 00:19:00.259 erasure of a modern military unit. And what happened 00:19:00.259 --> 00:19:02.700 to Hafiz Haqqapasha, the commander who pillaged 00:19:02.700 --> 00:19:05.380 ULTU? He only narrowly escaped capture himself 00:19:05.380 --> 00:19:07.619 by jumping on a horse and fleeing into the snow 00:19:07.619 --> 00:19:10.099 under heavy Russian fire. So what does this all 00:19:10.099 --> 00:19:12.480 mean for us today? When the guns finally stop 00:19:12.480 --> 00:19:15.039 firing, the blizzards clear and the silence returns 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:17.539 to the mountains. What is the final tally of 00:19:17.539 --> 00:19:20.220 this horrific campaign? Let's unpack the aftermath 00:19:20.220 --> 00:19:23.430 and the staggering tragic cost. Out of the roughly 00:19:23.430 --> 00:19:26.329 90 ,000 Ottoman soldiers who began the offensive 00:19:26.329 --> 00:19:28.710 with Enver Pasha, the casualties are difficult 00:19:28.710 --> 00:19:31.710 to even comprehend. Up to 30 ,000 were killed 00:19:31.710 --> 00:19:34.109 or wounded in actual combat during the sieges 00:19:34.109 --> 00:19:36.670 and skirmishes. But the elements, as Hassan Izzet 00:19:36.670 --> 00:19:39.450 Pasha predicted, were the true enemy. Approximately 00:19:39.450 --> 00:19:42.869 25 ,000 men died strictly from the cold, freezing 00:19:42.869 --> 00:19:45.009 to death in the mountains and forests before 00:19:45.009 --> 00:19:47.710 ever seeing a Russian soldier. And the suffering 00:19:47.710 --> 00:19:50.170 didn't end when they got off the mountain. The 00:19:50.170 --> 00:19:52.670 historical records note that another 20 ,000 00:19:52.670 --> 00:19:55.630 men died in the crowded, undersupplied field 00:19:55.630 --> 00:19:58.710 hospitals behind the lines. Mostly from a massive 00:19:58.710 --> 00:20:01.789 epidemic of typhus that swept through the severely 00:20:01.789 --> 00:20:03.930 weakened survivors. And it's crucial to mention 00:20:03.930 --> 00:20:05.710 that the Russians suffered terribly as well. 00:20:06.049 --> 00:20:08.529 This wasn't a bloodless victory. No, not at all. 00:20:08.809 --> 00:20:11.829 They lost up to 30 ,000 men to combat sickness 00:20:11.829 --> 00:20:14.109 and severe frostbite during the defense. The 00:20:14.109 --> 00:20:16.069 environment didn't play favorites even if the 00:20:16.069 --> 00:20:17.869 Russians were better equipped and had the railway. 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:21.000 The caucus's winter exacted a massive toll on 00:20:21.000 --> 00:20:23.279 everyone. But the darkest consequence of this 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:26.619 battle, the real historical poison pill, happens 00:20:26.619 --> 00:20:29.339 after Enver Pasha abandons the shattered remnants 00:20:29.339 --> 00:20:31.579 of his forces and flees back to the capital. 00:20:31.960 --> 00:20:34.839 Because he realizes his grand Schlieffen -style 00:20:34.839 --> 00:20:37.579 strategy has resulted in the total destruction 00:20:37.579 --> 00:20:40.190 of his own army. Based strictly on the historical 00:20:40.190 --> 00:20:43.349 records, Ember Pasha returned to Istanbul facing 00:20:43.349 --> 00:20:46.730 a massive political crisis. But rather than taking 00:20:46.730 --> 00:20:49.250 responsibility for the terrible planning, the 00:20:49.250 --> 00:20:52.329 lack of winter supplies, and his insistence on 00:20:52.329 --> 00:20:55.210 forced winter marches that doomed his men, he 00:20:55.210 --> 00:20:57.509 desperately needed a scapegoat to protect his 00:20:57.509 --> 00:20:59.779 absolute political position. And unfortunately, 00:20:59.779 --> 00:21:03.140 he found one. He publicly blamed the Armenian 00:21:03.140 --> 00:21:06.039 population for the defeat. He systematically 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:08.559 propagated the claim that Armenian soldiers and 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:11.180 civilians had actively conspired with the Russians, 00:21:11.500 --> 00:21:14.220 engaged in sabotage, and caused the collapse 00:21:14.220 --> 00:21:17.740 of the Ottoman lines. Wow. The source text explicitly 00:21:17.740 --> 00:21:20.299 notes that this manufactured scapegoating over 00:21:20.299 --> 00:21:23.279 the Serikamish disaster subsequently became a 00:21:23.279 --> 00:21:25.440 direct prelude to the horrors of the Armenian 00:21:25.440 --> 00:21:28.319 genocide. That is such a heavy, dark turn in 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:30.309 history. But I want you to think about this as 00:21:30.309 --> 00:21:32.789 a listener. When leaders at the highest levels 00:21:32.789 --> 00:21:35.750 refuse to be held accountable for massive systemic 00:21:35.750 --> 00:21:38.410 failures, when their hubris completely prevents 00:21:38.410 --> 00:21:41.009 them from admitting they were wrong, they will 00:21:41.009 --> 00:21:43.049 almost always look to manufacture a scapegoat. 00:21:43.089 --> 00:21:45.299 It's a pattern. And the consequences of that 00:21:45.299 --> 00:21:47.859 lie, of trying to cover up their own incompetence, 00:21:48.220 --> 00:21:51.380 can unleash something far more tragic and destructive 00:21:51.380 --> 00:21:54.079 than the initial failure itself. It's a deeply 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:56.619 sobering historical lesson about the strict limits 00:21:56.619 --> 00:21:59.380 of human ambition, the necessity of grounded 00:21:59.380 --> 00:22:02.539 logistics, and the terrifying far -reaching cost 00:22:02.539 --> 00:22:05.619 of unaccountable leadership. It really is. So 00:22:05.619 --> 00:22:08.160 to summarize the core of this deep dive, the 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:10.660 Battle of Seryakamish stands as a definitive 00:22:10.660 --> 00:22:13.619 historical example of what happens when rigid 00:22:13.619 --> 00:22:17.400 military ideology and blind human hubris go up 00:22:17.400 --> 00:22:20.299 against the unforgiving elements of nature. Enver 00:22:20.299 --> 00:22:22.920 Pasha treated the rugged Caucasus mountains like 00:22:22.920 --> 00:22:25.539 a flat paper map in a warm office in Istanbul. 00:22:26.099 --> 00:22:28.240 He ignored the vital logistics of winter warfare. 00:22:28.400 --> 00:22:30.339 He silenced and replaced his own experienced 00:22:30.339 --> 00:22:32.660 commanders on the ground, and he entirely ignored 00:22:32.660 --> 00:22:35.240 the very real physical limits of human endurance. 00:22:35.640 --> 00:22:38.039 And tens of thousands of men on both sides paid 00:22:38.039 --> 00:22:40.380 the ultimate price for his arrogance. This raises 00:22:40.380 --> 00:22:42.400 an important question, something my co -host 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:44.299 and I would like to leave you with today to mull 00:22:44.299 --> 00:22:47.730 over. Yes. We've spent this time looking at how 00:22:47.730 --> 00:22:50.509 Enver Pasha's total refusal to accept the reality 00:22:50.509 --> 00:22:53.250 of the terrain and the weather doomed tens of 00:22:53.250 --> 00:22:55.269 thousands of his own men to freeze in the dark. 00:22:56.009 --> 00:22:58.549 But consider this broader implication. When an 00:22:58.549 --> 00:23:01.250 army of 90 ,000 men effectively vanishes into 00:23:01.250 --> 00:23:04.049 the snow and the very leader who caused the disaster 00:23:04.049 --> 00:23:06.269 controls the telegraph lines and the press back 00:23:06.269 --> 00:23:09.000 home, How does a nation even begin to mourn a 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:10.960 disaster it isn't legally allowed to know the 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:13.220 truth about? Next time you read an official, 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:16.259 sanitized account of a historical crisis, ask 00:23:16.259 --> 00:23:18.259 yourself who survived to write the telegram? 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:21.039 That is a phenomenal, haunting question to end 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:23.119 on. Thank you so much for joining my co -host 00:23:23.119 --> 00:23:25.420 and me on this deep dive. We hope you walk away 00:23:25.420 --> 00:23:27.440 with a deeper, more nuanced perspective on how 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:29.819 history is made, how vital the truth on the ground 00:23:29.819 --> 00:23:32.859 really is, and sometimes how tragedy is frozen 00:23:32.859 --> 00:23:35.079 in its tracks by the very people supposed to 00:23:35.079 --> 00:23:37.490 lead. Until next time, stay curious.