Velichko, Konstantin Ivanovich

Orthodox. Born in the Kursk province in a noble family. His father was Major General I.I. Velichko from the kind of Little Russian Cossack chronicler of the beginning of the 18th century S.V. Velichko (1670-1728), and mother Elizaveta Grigoryevna came from the Kursk nobles of the Zolotarevs . He graduated from the 2nd St. Petersburg Military Gymnasium and the Nikolaev Engineering School (1875). In 1877 he passed the entrance exam to the Nikolaev Engineering Academy , but the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish war prompted him to leave the academy for a while and go to the army, where he was first in the 1st combat engineer battalion, then in the 2nd military telegraph park. He participated in the development of the Tverditsky pass between the city of Elena in the north and the village of Tverditsa in the south of the Balkans.

After the war ended, in the fall of 1878 he returned to the Engineering Academy, which he graduated in 1881 with the first in academic performance and his name was written on a marble plank. He was left at the academy as a teacher, he held the position of tutor on fortification. In 1883 he was sent abroad to the University of Berlin to attend lectures and then to Germany, France, Italy, England and Belgium for the practical study of technical production. Since 1890, professor of the Nikolaev Engineering Academy in the department of fortification, remained in this position until the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War. In 1892 and 1893, Colonel Velichko worked in the fortresses of Kovno and Novogeorgievsk , where he was in charge of the construction of serf railways and took part in all the activities of the garrisons. Since 1893 - a member of the commission on armament of fortresses, since 1895 - manager of the affairs of this commission. He also participated in many other commissions and committees. In 1903 he was appointed assistant chief engineer.

The author of many scientific works on fortification. In his works, he opposed the use of armored turrets in fortresses. Velichko contributed a lot to the formation of the Russian fortification school, characterized by a combination of manpower and covering the dead masses, the desire to achieve artillery safety with the help of camouflage and movement of guns, the development of communication routes in fortresses and, in general, the organization of fortifications that are most appropriate for active defense.

With the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War on February 12, 1904, he was appointed general for special assignments under the commander (later commander in chief) of forces in the Far East Kuropatkin . Fulfilled various assignments of him on the engineering side, such as, for example, the development of projects for the fortifications of Liaoyang, the Kavlitsunsky position on the river. Liaohe, Yingkou, Tashichao , Haicheng, Aisandzyansky and Lyandyasyansky positions, and also (immediately after leaving Liaoyang) Mukden, Telin, and after the Mukden fights and Harbin . Lieutenant General (1907). In 1910-1914, he was chairman of the editorial committee of the Military Encyclopedia of Sytin Publishing House and an editor uniting all four of its departments. He was a member of the Council of the Russian Assembly ^[3] .

As a practicing military engineer, the builder of fortresses was distinguished by a pathological tendency to reduce the line of fortification contours of fortresses ( Vladivostok , Port Arthur ) to the detriment of their defenses, designing the construction of forts in lower places in view of the prevailing heights, which he left unoccupied to the great joy of the enemy. This played a fatal role in the history of the Port Arthur fortress and created an incredible number of problems in Vladivostok, where the dominant heights had to be occupied by field fortifications already during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. ^{[4] [5]}

Despite the sad experience of Port Arthur, despite a widespread misconception, he did not change his views even after the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905. Continuing to move in his projects in the opposite direction from the general direction of evolution of fortification forms, that is, instead of dispersing the objects of fortification on the ground, he continued to concentrate them, and still in places most conveniently located for shelling by enemy artillery. So, during the development of the Commission of the Special Meeting at the Council of State Defense , the project of the Nikolaev-on-Amur fortress K.I. Velichko in his dissenting opinion regarding the defense of the mouth of the river. Amur near Nikolaevsk proposed "instead of the two-line defense system outlined, to build a small fortress on the right bank of the Amur River and on the left bank of the Zubarevka River, at the height of Cape Alon, opposite Nikolaevsk, consisting of 3 to 4 forts connected between a barrier in the form of flanking ditches. ” The commission, which decided by a majority vote to strengthen the mouth of the Amur in two lines, became furious and “pointed out that the three or four forts proposed by General Major Velichko, located in the sight of the commanding heights, with such an obstacle between them, cover such an insignificant space that it shoots through everything and is under enemy fire. Only with the transition to the right bank of Zubarevka would we have enough internal space and hidden from view (the hollow of the Zubarevka river), but the contour is very insignificant and completely disproportionate to the manpower and means possible for the present case. ” The Special Conference, moreover, recognized that without the Chnyrrah – Tarakanovka defensive line, the expedient actions of the Amur Flotilla would be difficult. As a result, the opinion of K.I. Velichko was rejected, however, a description of all the fortification inconsistencies alleged by him was included in the report addressed to the chairman of the SSS, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich-ml. with all explanations of the commission. Moreover, a special note was made in the report: “On the issue of strengthening Nikolaevsk at the end of the studies of the Commission of Lieutenant General (now Engineer-General) Vernander , an addition to the special opinion of Major General Velichko is presented.” Velichko was not expelled from teaching in military engineering even after that ^[6] [1] !

During the First World War, Velichko from 1914 was at the disposal of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the Southwestern Front , then the Chief of Engineers of the 11th Army , which carried out the siege of Przemysl . February 19, 1915 "for differences in matters against the enemy" was awarded the Order of the White Eagle with swords. Since March 4, 1916 - chief of engineers of the South-Western Front . He proposed a new form of engineering equipment for the offensive - "engineering bridgeheads". For the first time such a bridgehead was created during the preparation of the Brusilovsky breakthrough . After the February Revolution, Velichko, deservedly enjoying an extremely high reputation in the army, was appointed on May 10, 1917 to the highest position of field inspector of the engineering unit at the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander .

In February 1918 he voluntarily joined the Red Army , led the engineering defense of Petrograd, from March 1918 he was the chairman of the collegium for state defense at the Main Engineering and Technical Directorate of the Red Army, he taught engineering at the Military Academy of the Red Army. Since January 1919 - a member of the engineering committee of the State Military Research University. In order RVSR № 2731 from 8 December. 1922 it was noted that "the tremendous work done by Professor Velichko on the study and use of the experience of World War II made it possible to eliminate the shortcomings of past years while strengthening our borders ... Professor Velichko’s name will remain in history along with the largest names in the field of fortification."

Since 1923 - professor of fortification at the Military Engineering Academy in Leningrad . Died of an illness. He was buried at the Nikolsky cemetery of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra in a family burial near his uncle, Lieutenant General V.G. Zolotarev and his first wife Vera Mikhailovna, the tombstone of his wife did not survive.

In his first marriage (1879) he was married to Vera Mikhailovna, nee Abrosimova, children:

• Lev Konstantinovich Velichko, clan 1881 probably died in infancy;
• Margarita Konstantinovna Velichko (Multanovskaya), clan 1883;
• Ksenia Konstantinovna Velichko (Kirsanova), clan 1888;
• Vera Konstantinovna Velichko (Weber), clan OK. 1892.

In his second marriage (c. 1905) he was married to Elizabeth Vasilyevna, nee Thomas.

Sisters:

• Margarita Ivanovna Velichko;
• Leonilla Ivanovna Velichko.

• Pros and cons of armor closures in fortresses. 1885
• Regarding the tests of the armored towers in Bucharest . - St. Petersburg, type. Department of the Ancestral, 1886.
• The study of the latest means of siege and defense of land fortresses, accompanied by projects of the general fortress location, long-term forts and long-term intermediate batteries : With an atlas of 15 liters. heck. - SPb .: type. or T. V.A. Tikhanov, 1890.
• Fortress defenses against accelerated attacks. St. Petersburg, 1892;
• Fortresses and serf railways . - St. Petersburg: type. or T. V.A. Tikhanova, 1898.
• Conditions of work and the life of troops in Kwantung. 1900.
• Engineering defense of states and the construction of fortresses. Part 1. Land fortresses. St. Petersburg, 1903;
• Fortresses before and after the World War 1914-1918 : [Experience initial research. questions about fortresses based on fortifications. ideas pos. in the device of existing fortresses and on the data revealed. World War] M .: Ch. Military engineer Control RKKA, 1922-112 p.
• Russian fortresses in connection with the operations of field armies during the World War (a critical-strategic study based on archival materials and memoirs). L., 1926.
• The Russian army in the Great War: The Four Years War of 1914-1918 and its era . // IV. The role of fortresses in connection with field army operations

In addition, from 1884 to 1910, a series of articles by General Velichko on serfdom issues, as well as in the general press ( Novoye Vremya , St. Petersburg), were published in the Engineering Journal, the Military Collection , the Russian Disabled and the Scout from 1884 to 1910. -Petersburg sheets , etc.) articles on military and general issues.

Reprints of works

• Velichko K.I. Engineering Defense of States and the Installation of Fortresses: Land Fortresses. - Ed. 2nd. - M .: Book House "LIBROCOM" , 2012. - 248 p. - (Academy of Basic Research: History). - ISBN 978-5-397-02942-1 . (region)

• Velichko, Konstantin Ivanovich // Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary : 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Velichko, Konstantin Ivanovich // Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 vol.] / Ch. ed. A.M. Prokhorov . - 3rd ed. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1969-1978.
• Zalessky K. A. Who was who in the First World War. - M .: AST ; Astrel, 2003 .-- 896 p. - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-17-019670-9 (ACT); ISBN 5-271-06895-1 (Astrel).
• Velichko, Konstantin Ivanovich // Big Soviet Encyclopedia : in 66 volumes (65 volumes and 1 additional) / Ch. ed. O. Yu. Schmidt . - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia , 1926-1947.

• Biography Velichko K. I. on the site "Chronos"
• Velichko, Konstantin Ivanovich (neopr.) . // Project "Russian Army in the Great War".