The offensive of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia (AFSR) in the summer and autumn of 1919 in the direction of Moscow. The critical juncture of the Civil War, when the White forces achieved the greatest success but were subsequently repelled by the counter-offensive of the forces of the Red Army’s Southern Front.

On July 3, 1919, AFSR Commander-in-Chief Lieutenant-General Anton Denikin, issued the so-called Moscow Directive, the document that specified the strategy of AFSR’s assault to capture Moscow, the capital of the Russian SFSR. The Directive provided for the delivery of the main blow along the lines converging to the center to Kursk and Voronezh, with the movement along the Dnieper and the Desna to cover it from the west.

The offensive developed rapidly. In July – August 1919, the main success was attained in the western and southwestern directions. The Whites occupied the territories of the Poltava and Chernigov governorates, took Odessa and Kiev. The White Caucasian army (commander Pyotr Wrangel) took Tsaritsyn (June 30) and Kamyshin (July 15). The Cossack division of the Caucasian army crossed the Volga, creating a vast foothold in the Tsaritsyn area.

Mid-August saw the Red Army troops launch a counter-offensive in the direction of the Don region, which temporarily delayed the White offensive. In response, the AFSR command undertook a deep equestrian raid of General Konstantin Mamantov’s 4th Don Separate Cavalry Corps, which destroyed communications on the entire Red Army’s Southern Front. The breakthrough of the Reds was eliminated.

On September 12, AFSR launched a general offensive. By mid-October, the White troops stretched out forming a huge arc from Kiev to Oryol and Tsaritsyn. On September 30, General Andrei Shkuro’s Cossacks took Voronezh. On October 14, Kornilov shock division entered Oryol. Moscow was within about 250 miles. The Bolsheviks began preparing government offices for evacuation.

However, in October, the White’s situation deteriorated markedly. The armies were practically not replenished with new reserves and were exhausted by the fighting. Significant forces were transferred to the rear to fight the insurgent army of Nestor Makhno. On 11 October, the offensive was halted by the Red Army’s counter-offensive.