SOLDIER OF FORTUNE

"It doesn't befit me, a true soldier, destined to die on the battlefield, to die on the operating table." These words uttered by General Ali-Aga Sixlinski shortly before his death cannot be described as idle bluster. A modest man, he declined to be buried in the Avenue of Honorary Burial and instructed that he should be laid to rest alongside his beloved wife in Chemberekend cemetery. And there was one important truth in those last words - despite his intrepid youth and maturity, Sixlinski had managed to live to a good age. Such was fortune's favour.

This year Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed an instruction on marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of General Ali-Aga Sixlinski. The celebrated military leader and academician, Lt-Gen Ali-Aga Ismail aga oglu Sixlinski would have been 150 years old in April next year. 

Sixlinski's career

Ali-Aga Sixlinski was born on 23 April 1865 in the tiny hamlet of Qazaxli in the parish of Qazax in Elizavetpol province (now the village of Asagi Salahli, Qazax District) into the family of a landowner. He came from an ancient noble family, the first mention of which goes back to 1537. His mother, Sah-Yeman xanim, was the grand-daughter of the celebrated poet Molla Vali Vidadi. He joined the military school in Tiflis (now Tbilisi), which was later renamed the Cadet Corps, from which he graduated in 1883. He began his military service on 1 September 1883 as a pupil of the Mikhaylovskiy Artillery School in St. Petersburg. After graduating from the school's first grade on 11 August 1886, Ali-Aga Sixlinski was promoted by the highest order to be a second lieutenant and assigned to the 39th Artillery Brigade in the Caucasus in the town of Aleksandropol (now Gyumri). He began his service in the fifth and was then transferred to the second battery, and at the end of October was appointed instructor of a brigade training team, training bombardiers, or non-commissioned officers. On 23 November 1887 he was made lieutenant, and in April 1891 received his first award - the St. Stanislav Order, 3rd class.

On 15 July 1894 Sixlinski was made staff captain and in September was appointed head of the brigade training team. On 1 February 1895 he was made senior officer of No 1 battery and in February 1896 was awarded the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class. He was promoted to captain on 19 July 1898 and from June 1899 to February 1900 he temporarily carried out the duties of commander of the 1st Battery.

At the beginning of 1900 Ali-Aga decided to transfer to Eastern Siberia. And so on 17 February the highest order was given to transfer Captain Sixlinski to the Independent Trans-Baykal Artillery Battalion, where he was appointed senior officer of the 1st Battery. The Independent Trans-Baykal Artillery Battalion consisted of two batteries: the 1st battery was commanded by Col V. Engelman, and the 2nd by Lt Col Samadbay Mehmandarov. Because of a shortage of officers in the 2nd East Siberian mobile artillery ordnance pool (a rear unit with supplies of ammunition) Sixlinski occasionally carried out the duties of pool commander. As part of the Independent Trans-Baykal Artillery Battalion he took part in the China campaign, and on 1 May 1901 was awarded the St. Stanislav Order, 2nd class, with swords, for distinguished conduct.

From May 1901 to March 1902 Sixlinski carried out the duties of commander of the 1st battery and battalion commander. In May-June 1902 he was in temporary command of the 2nd battery, and in July was appointed senior officer of this battery. From August that same year to October 1903 he was commander of the 2nd battery, replacing Col S. Mehmandarov, who had gone on six months' leave and for training in St. Petersburg.

Port Artur

"For the skilful and successful artillery defence of Fort No 3 and its strengthening from 13 to 17 October 1904, at the same time inspiring a battery section assigned to him against superior enemy forces and frequently personally aiming the guns which lost their guncrews, often silencing enemy artillery and repulsing attempts by the Japanese infantry to take the approach routes to these defences." These words are inscribed on the citation document to the Order of St. George, 4th class received by Ali-Aga Sixlinski in the Russo-Japanese War as a senior battery officer. And the port referred to here is the famous Port Arthur, whose heroism has more than once been made famous in literature and in films.

This was a terrible war which, despite the emperor's wish, was not destined to be "short and victorious". And its horror can be seen even in this cold phrase "for lost gunnery crews". In this battle, which went on for several days non-stop, Sixlinski showed amazing fortitude. He was wounded in the leg, and because of a shortage of medication and the unsterilized conditions of battle it turned out to be serious but amputation was avoided. Fortune favoured the brave in those days. Few people are aware but it was also apparent in the fact that Sixlinski should not have been commanding this battery. If he had, he would, in fact, have died on foreign soil thousands of kilometres from home. However, Col Samadbay Mehmandarov, who commanded a rifle artillery battalion, had appointed Sixlinski temporary battery commander. Because of his rank Sixlinski was not entitled to take the post permanently.

There was no cronyism here: how could there have been when, having appointed a non-professional, one could have paid for this with one's own life and that of one's men. Mehmandarov knew Sixlinski well from service in the Caucasus and, besides, four years before this Sixlinski had successfully carried out the duties of temporary battery commander. "Battery Commander Captain Ali-Aga Aliqazax oglu Sixlinski was seriously wounded on Mount Laperovo (in the rear of Fort III and fortification No 3). Brave, like Caucasians in general, he took part in the fighting on Jinzhou and on Green and Wolf Hills, at the beginning of August was with his battery on High Mountain, and from 10 August irremovably on Laperovo, from where he kept the approaches to the fortifications under fire, helped to repulse the assault columns and fought the enemy's field artillery." This is an extract from an article in the "Novyy Kray" newspaper, which was published in Port Arthur at the time. In short, the defence of Port Arthur is the only glorious page in that inglorious war for the Russian Empire. Riddled with corruption, from the very outset the demoralized imperial navy suffered major losses in all sea battles. Later, incidents of stealing on a large scale came to light, which led to the ships not being properly built and fitted out. And the outcome of the war was disillusion with the emperor, which led to the 1905 revolution. 

Sixlinski's heroism and professionalism

It should be noted that taking part in that defence was just one episode in Ali-Aga Sixlinski's extensive career. Later he took part in the First World War where he was a general, trained artillery recruits at the Western Front and wrote several books on artillery training. He was made lieutenant-general for his military services in April 1917 and in September was appointed commander of the 10th Army.

With the fall of czarism, and in the light of the anarchy that was rife in the empire, he didn't take sides and decided to resign. This is what he wrote in his farewell letter: "In the course of 17 months I have occupied the post of inspector of artillery of the armies of the Western Front, and my 31 years of service to the Motherland in the ranks of the artillery ended in this post. As I am appointed to the post of commander of the 10th Army, I am, perhaps, forsaking my weapon for ever. It is particularly sad for me to part with my aides and my closest associates on the road of artillery combat at the front… From the bottom of my heart I thank the staff and officers for their assignments, the generals, officers and officials of all the departments and institutions under my command…To all the men of the Directorate…and all units, institutions and commands - my heartfelt thanks."

Sixlinski also played the most active part in creating the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic. As part of the Caucasian Islamic Army he took Baku in 1918. When, with huge numerical superiority in April 1920, the XI Red Army established Bolshevik power in Baku, Mehmandarov and Sixlinski were among the officers sentenced to be executed by firing squad, from which he was again rescued by sheer fortune, this time by the head of the Azerbaijani Sovnarkom [Council of People's Commissars], Nariman Narimanov, who personally covered for both the officers by writing a letter to Lenin.

The well-known military historian Yevgeniy Barsukov spoke highly of Sixlinski's heroism and professionalism and documentary films have been made about him in Russia and Azerbaijan. He is also one of the main characters in Aleksandr Stepanov's celebrated military novel "Port Artur". And today, reading his extraordinary biography, it seems that fate itself protected this valiant and wise man to enable him to carry out further exploits.

Sixlinski passed away on 18 August 1943.