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The nascent Ukrainian republic has not been calm since the Central Rada declared independence, and the German-Austrian troops entering Ukraine had to play the role of police. The Moscow-led Soviet forces also counterattacked Kiev in January, but then collapsed under the blows of the German-Austrian forces under the command of General Hoffmann.

However, the Don government led by Karekin was now in jeopardy, and the Red Guards everywhere, at the call of Moscow, gathered in Volenezh to support the forces of the Don Revolutionary Military Council. With the help of the Red Guards, Karekin's troops began to retreat and were forced to abandon Luhansk and Tsaritsyn.

The special envoy of Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister Chernin met with Kalygin in Rostov and expressed his readiness to support Karekin's Don junta on the condition that an independent republic be formed in the Don region, separate from the Russian side.

Karekin did not want to be a puppet of the Austrians and rejected Chernin's proposal.

The shape shì became more and more favorable to the Soviet army.

At the end of January, the Red Guards launched an offensive on the remnants of Karekin in Taganrog from three fronts, and Kornilov also abandoned Rostov-on-Don and led his volunteer army to the Kuban Valley.

In desperation, Karekin shot himself, and the short-lived Don junta descended into chaos.

The Austrians finally could not sit still, and since it was inconvenient for them to come forward on their own, they sent three Cossack divisions of the Ukrainian regiment, landed in Rostov, and sent the Chinese Workers' Regiment to the front as well.

After Karekin's suicide, General Nazarov became the new commander of the Don Cossack corps, and in order to survive, he began to cooperate with the enemy of the past.

Supreme Military Commissar Trotsky ordered the Red Guards to launch an offensive on Rostov in mid-February.

The 7th Division of the Chinese Workers' Corps, commanded by Song Huanzhang, went ashore in Mariupol, which was controlled by the Ukrainian army, and then advanced to the line of the Braven River. In the town of Kirnovka, north of Taganrog, the Chinese corps, together with the Kamensk Cossack regiment loyal to Nazarov, engaged in a fierce battle with the attacking Red Guards.

It was also the first time that the Chinese corps took part in a large-scale battle.

The two sides fought fiercely over the control of the Matveev railway bridge. Shells were constantly falling on both sides of the Braven River, the railway line had been blown up, the rails were scattered along the roadbed, the sleepers had been removed for repair, and some of the burning wood was still smoking.

The Red Guards under Sablin's command tried to force their way across the Braven River, and were dragged by several steamboats, and wooden boats full of Red Guards rushed to the riverbank. The Red Guards suppressed the Chinese troops in the fortifications on the river bank with heavy artillery. Some of the men fled the trenches in fright during the shelling, but the deserters were quickly knocked to the ground by flying shrapnel.

The Chinese laborers, who had never experienced war in the trenches, were so frightened that they cowered under the trenches.

"The enemy is coming up, return to the battle position, ready to shoot!" The officers whistled and ran back and forth in the trenches with their waists bent, occasionally kicking some of the bewildered soldiers in the ass.

The Russians began to charge along the river beach, snap! I don't know who fired the first shot, and then the gunshots rang out like fried beans. Most of the laborers who participated in the battle for the first time were trembling with nervousness, many were at a loss, the gunfire was sparse, and if it was on the flat ground, it was estimated that the Red Guards would have rushed to their positions, but fortunately, the Russians were stuck in the mud on the river beach, moving slowly.

On the other side, the Red Guards advanced outside the town of Kirnovka in sparse skirmishers on both sides of the railway line, and became somewhat panicked at the sight of the enemy's charge from the positions of the Chinese Workers' Corps outside the town. Many laborers who shot at people with guns for the first time in their lives were frightened, lying in the trenches and shooting indiscriminately, bullets flying all over the sky, but they couldn't hit anyone.

Zhang Weicheng was next to the machine gun in the position, observing the enemy's movements with a telescope. The Red Guards didn't seem to have any training in this way, and they were inferior to the laborers under him. Some of the people in the position opened fire without waiting for an order, they could not stand the tense atmosphere, but the enemy was still 500 meters away.

Zhang Weicheng was so angry that he stood in the trench and scolded and shouted, but it was of little use, so he had to order his platoon commanders to kick the soldiers who were shooting with their feet. But it was of little use, and the continuous sound of fire drowned out his shouts, Zhang Weicheng waved his hand in frustration and gave an order to the machine gunner: "Fire!" ”

Li Guangtou leaned his mud-covered head against the handle of the gun and pulled the bolt with his fingers.

"Dada-da-da!" The Breda machine gun equipped by the Chinese Workers Corps was an imitation of the British Lewis machine gun by the Italians, but it used an Italian standard 6.5mm rifle cartridge, and the recoil was actually smaller than that of the German and Austrian light machine guns.

As several machine guns began to fire from the position, the effect was immediately apparent, and a small group of Red Guards who were charging forward immediately retreated behind the small dirt slope, leaving a few dead bodies in the bare ground. There were also not many experienced soldiers in the Red Guards, and instead of looking for shelter in the face of an attack, they turned around and began to flee.

Zhang Weicheng breathed a sigh of relief, the enemy seemed to be no stronger than his men.

The battle lasted a whole day, and in the evening there was a light rain in the sky and the earth became wet. The two sides fought back and forth outside the town of Kirnovka, littered with craters and charred earth, as well as corpses that looked like black clods. Before dark, reinforcements from the Chinese Workers' Corps arrived, and the Red Guards under Sablin's command retreated.

The Red Guards offensive stopped, and the Austrians singled out the Cossacks from the prisoner of war camps, then rearmed and constantly sent to the Donets region.

After replenishing their forces, Nazarov and Kornilov had the confidence to stop worrying as they had been a while ago.

Kornilov's volunteer army was again massed in Rostov, and he now had about 30,000 men at his disposal. He is now delaying the launch of a counteroffensive and is waiting for the arrival of General Nazarov. The two men needed to discuss the distribution of additional troops and military supplies from Romania. It is ironic that the former commander-in-chief of the Russian army is now dependent on the help of the enemy in the past.

By 9 March, having fended off the Red Guard offensive, General Nazarov, accompanied by the head of the secretariat of the Don Military Council, Major General Bogaevsky, took a train from Taganrog to Rostov-on-Don. The Cossack generals who had been invited to Rostov for the meeting had already arrived: Kornilov sat at a long table with a military map spread out in front of him. To his right sits the gray-haired, scrawny General Alekseev, the former commander-in-chief, who was out of Petrograd after the October coup d'état and escaped from being imprisoned. On the other side was General Rukomsky, who represented Denikin, who claimed that if the Don Army could be brought under his command, he would lead the Caucasian Corps south for reinforcements.

Indeed, Denikin now has nearly 200,000 people in his hands, making him the most powerful military force at the moment.

However, neither Kornilov nor Nazarov would let Denikin command them, this guy was not a Cossack, so how could he be the master of the Don Army.

Kornilov looked at Nazarov, who was sitting at the table calmly and confidently, and asked: "General, could you please tell me how many of you have now?" ”

"There are 27,000 people, and we have recruited about 30,000 Chinese workers to join in." "The Austrians agreed to hand over to us about 100,000 captured Cossack troops," Nazarov said. ”

"Yesterday we had a meeting and decided to march to the upper reaches of the Don with the goal of Tsaritsyn, and our route of march is ......" Kornilov pointed his finger on the map, and then said: "We will unite your troops with the Volunteer Army and march to Tsaritsyn in coordination. Distract forces - it's not good for us. ”

"It can't be!" Nazarov categorically said, "We need to drive the Red Guards across the Donets ridge, and then march north to overthrow the Soviet regime in Kharkov." Since Moscow has a ceasefire agreement with the Austrians, they do not dare to massively send troops across the Ukrainian border. We need to first purge the enemy from the territory of Ukraine. Nazarov rejected Kornilov's offer, and he eventually agreed to hand over to Kornilov 30,000 of the Austrian prisoners of war, and the two decided to go their separate ways.

Nazarov operated in the Donetsk region, while Kornilov marched upstream along the Don River. (The novel "Under the Double Eagles" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lottery gift for everyone!) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "add friends", search for the official account "qdread" and follow, hurry up! )

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