Kario kelias: generolas Kazimieras Ladiga nepriklausomybės kovose

LTBūdamas dvidešimties jis tapo karininku, eidamas 26-uosius ėmėsi vadovauti pulkui, o dar po metų - divizijai ir armijai; turėdamas 31- erius, buvo pakeltas į generolus, 33-ejų metų išėjo į atsargą, o nesulaukęs nė 48-erių - tragiškai baigė gyvenimą. Šių kelių faktų pakanka, kad suvoktume, jog tai būta išskirtinės asmenybės mūsų krašto, mūsų kariuomenės istorijoje. Tačiau vargu ar daug kas šiandien Lietuvoje galėtų ką nors pasakyti apie K. Ladigą, žmogų, su kurio vardu susijusi 1918-1920 m. savanorių žygių heroika, mūsų tautos pergalių ir netekčių lemtis. Keli istoriografijoje įsigalėję stereotipai apie K. Ladigą, ne tik kaip pagrindinį bolševikų ir bermontininkų nugalėtoją, bet ir kone svarbiausią kaltininką dėl Vilniaus praradimo, nėra visada pakankamai argumentuoti ir dažnai tik trukdo pažvelgti į šio karvedžio veiklos visumą. Pats generolas nesuspėjo parašyti išsamių prisiminimų (liko tik užrašų fragmentai), o rašiusiems apie jį rūpėdavo arba tik sava tiesa, arba pristigdavo pirminių šaltinių. Okupacija ir išplitusi istorinės atminties erozija lėmė, kad monografija apie K. Ladigą pasirodo tik praėjus aštuoniems dešimtmečiams nuo nepriklausomybės kovų, o kada panašaus dėmesio sulauks kitos ryškios to meto asmenybės - S. Žukauskas, P. Liatukas, J. Galvydis-Bykauskas - niekas negali pasakyti. [Iš Pratarmės]

ENIn 1918-1940 around 60 officers holding the rank of general served in the army of the Republic of Lithuania, but only a few of them had distinguished themselves as outstanding commanders in action. S. Žukauskas, P. Liatukas, S. Nastopka, V. Grigaliūnas-Glovackis, К. Ladiga and P. Plechavičius were among them. During the fight for independence in 1918-1920 the Lithuanian Army faced a great shortage of experienced higher- ranking officers; thus the main burden of leading the army fell upon young officers who had started their military careers mostly during World War I. Without any advanced education, but only experienced in military action, they created the army starting off at zero and led its regiments and divisions. During the years of peace this generation of officers still was the backbone of the Lithuanian military leadership. The most outstanding member of this generation was, doubtless, General Kazimieras Ladiga. He was bom on the 6th of January 1894 in Iškonys village, Biržai district. He attended secondary school in Biržai, graduated from gymnasium in Vilnius. When World War I started he joined the Russian Army and, having finished a shortened course at the Vilnius Infantry Military School, went to the front. He served mostly in intelligence units, distinguished himself as a talented commander, was promoted to the rank of captain in several years and received almost all awards that could possibly be given to a higher officer in the Russian Army. He was wounded twice: once lightly, the other time heavily. He was planing to enter the Military Academy, but the confusion in the Russian Army caused by the Bolshevik Revolution ruined his plans. At the beginning of 1918, when Germans occupied the fortress of Dvinsk, he was taken prisoner and stayed in Germany for eight months.In autumn 1918 he returned to his homeland and immediately got involved in forming the Lithuanian Army: he organised the Citizens Guard in the environs of his native Biržai; the 12th of December 1918 he joined the still forming 1st Infantry Regiment of the Lithuanian Army. The regiment was formed in Alytus exclusively from volunteers - in a hurry, without having necessary conditions or any considerable material resources. Having no time to consolidate the regiment had to join a battle against the Russian Bolshevik Army that was trying to advance towards Kaunas through Alytus; the regiment experienced serious losses. However, under the commandment of K. Ladiga the regiment strengthened in a month and a half and started fighting against Bolsheviks on the Vilnius front and later, in May-July, as a part of a wider operation, it developed a successful attack in the direction of Ukmergė-Zarasai. On the 25th of August 1919 the first Infantry Brigade led by K. Ladiga finished the liberation of Lithuanian territory from Russian Bolsheviks. In October-December 1919 K. Ladiga was commanding the subdivisions fighting against the German and Russian Monarchist Army that had fortified its positions in Western Lithuania, known as the Bermondt Army. 21-22 November the Bermondt Army was defeated near Radviliškis. Later Colonel Lieutenant K. Ladiga led the 1st Infantry Division, which was protecting the demarcation line with the Polish Army that had occupied a part of the southern and eastern territory of Lithuania (including the capital Vilnius). In summer 1920, when active fight restarted between Russia and Poland, the Lithuanian Army led by K. Ladiga marched into the territory of Lithuania abandoned by the Polish and took Vilnius back.Then, while the Bolshevik attack got stuck near Warsaw and they started retreating, the Polish Army was persecuting the Russians and came across the Lithuanian regiments not yet fully fortified in Southern Suvalkija (Augustavas-Suvalkai-Seinai land). Pushed behind the former demarcation line the Lithuanian Army consolidated quickly and at the beginning of September 1920 organised a counter-attack led by K. Ladiga, which, unfortunately, was unsuccessful. An even more painful disaster followed this difficult challenge: the Polish Army started a wide attack and pushed the Lithuanian Army out of Southern Suvalkija on the 22-23rd of September and formed an access to Vilnius. This defeat, fatal to Lithuania, had put a stop on the sudden career of K. Ladiga, and pushed the young commander into the shadow for a while. Having commanded the newly formed 4th Infantry Division for one year K. Ladiga was sent for education: first he attended the Military Department at the Zurich Polytechnic Institute; later he graduated from the Prague Military Academy (Škola Valečna). From 1924 he led the 3rd Infantry Division; in 1925-1926 he was the commander of the Chief Headquarters. He was dismissed from this office by the left government that won the elections and became one of the chief organisers of the 17 December 1926 overturn of government. After the overturn, the Nationalist party took power and transferred General K. Ladiga, who was close to Christian Democrats, to the reserve in 1927. When he lost any possibility to realise his potential in public service, the general got involved in agricultural activities: he tried to create an exemplary farm in Gulbinėnai manor, which he acquired in Northern Lithuania. Unfortunately, this idea was not successful and the former commander had to balance constantly on the edge of bankruptcy. [...]. [From the publication]