At the same time as Kamenev's big words, in the city of Pskov in the Pskov region. After two days of difficult tug-of-war, the pro-Kornilov forces finally achieved some results, and the plan to march into Petrograd, which had been delayed for a day, was put back on the agenda.

“…… We have successfully retaken the railway station, and the mob in the streets has been largely dispersed, so it can be seen that both the Bolsheviks and the demagogic mob are completely vulnerable. ”

In the conference room of the Pskov City Hall, Major General Ilya Brown. "Therefore, I suggest that we should command our troops to move quickly towards Petrograd, cooperate with the commander-in-chief to quell the rebellion, and solve all problems once and for all." ”

Fifty-two-year-old Major General Ananiyevich was not a proud commander, and he had a lot of experience in suppressing the "mob" – but it was this experience that led him to misjudge; He believed that the Bolsheviks were simply vulnerable, and that a Cossack company or a few machine guns could make them flee. This is an example of what has happened before, and Ananiyevich believes it can happen again.

Vigna. Colonel Vikentievich agreed with him: "It is true, we must not waste time in Pskov, and we must get to Petrograd as soon as possible in order to achieve a final victory." ”

But someone objected, "Gentlemen, please do not despise our opponents, the Bolsheviks were cunning and cruel, and did not lack courage, and too reckless actions would put us in danger." Pskov Mayor Mavinov reminded, "Have you forgotten the lessons of yesterday? When you leave Puskaf on the front foot, and the Bolsheviks on the back foot will incite the mob to besiege the government, then the lines of communication will be cut off again! The police and gendarmes in my hands are powerless to stop them! ”

He mentioned that the defeat did make the officers present a little faceless, and that the two battalions of about 1,000 troops under Major General Ananiyevich swaggered to retake the railway station. Just when they thought that they had cleared the chaos and could continue along the railway line, the train full of a whole battalion was attacked by the Bolsheviks, the tracks were blown up, and the derailed train rushed directly into Pskov Lake with more than 500 people, and then the railway station was once again recaptured by the Bolsheviks.

Mavinov will never allow the same tragedy to happen again: "Gentlemen. Remember. A total of 430 soldiers were drowned in that battle, and I only hope that such a tragedy will not happen a second time. ”

"You're too pessimistic, Mr. Mayor." "Yesterday's tragedy was just an accident, but this time, I am sure that the Bolshevik rebels will no longer be able to hinder us in any way," Ananiyevich said. ”

"We'll be extra careful, too." Colonel Vikentievich added, "And we have a whole division. Relatively speaking, the Bolshevik rebellion is not worth mentioning at all! ”

"I'm not as optimistic as you!" "As far as I know, the Bolsheviks are trying to arm the workers, they have collected a large number of weapons, and it is said that they will also be supported by the Petrograd workers' forces," said Mavinov. ”

"It's just a rabble." Ananiyevich did not hide his contempt in the slightest, "even if the Bolsheviks could muster a large army." They have enough weapons, but they are still vulnerable compared to our soldiers......"

As Ananiyevich was about to give an impassioned speech, he was interrupted by the door of the conference room being pushed open and the guards shouting "Risaki", and he turned his head with the others to look over.

Two dignified and well-dressed servicemen entered the conference room, it was Lieutenant General Gramovich and his adjutant. Mayor Mavinov immediately gave up his place, and Gramovich took his place and sat at the head of the table.

As the commander slowly looked around the table. An invisible glimmer of joy appeared on his axe-like face. "Gentlemen, I just got the news. The situation in Petrograd has changed, and Kerensky is ready to give in to us. His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief has issued a series of orders requiring me to lead the army to move closer to him at once, so we must put more pressure on Kerensky until he completely collapses! ”

A wave of astonishment echoed through the crowd, "as soon as the railway line is opened," Gramovich continued, "we will move forward at once, without delay." ”

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General." Mavinov was not at all happy, without the support of the army, he would have been ousted by the Bolsheviks in a minute, he interjected: "I must emphasize to you once again that there are still a large number of Bolsheviks active in Pskov, and they cannot be left alone!" ”

"Maybe you haven't noticed, Mr. Mayor, as I just said, that the situation is very tense right now, and Petrograd and His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief need my troops even more." Gramovich explains, "There's no time to waste. You and your police force must take on the responsibility of guarding Pskov! ”

"But the Bolshevik rebels are actively plotting a counterattack, and they will not give up! Your Excellency, if you don't destroy them, your troops won't be able to move forward, will they? "So I think that even if you go to reinforce His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, you will leave some troops in Pskov ......."

"Well, Mr. Mayor, I will leave a regiment to assist you in stabilizing the situation!" ”

Although Mavinov felt that one regiment was too few, he also knew that he could not ask for more, and that although the army of a regiment could not fully control Pskov, it would somewhat guarantee that he would be able to escape from the siege of the Bolsheviks.

Kornilov's generals couldn't wait to go north, but unfortunately, as Mayor Mavinov feared, their opponents had a much greater force than they had anticipated.

"Comrade Frunze, as of this afternoon, another 6,000 brave proletarian fighters have gathered under your command." "And we have collected another 3,000 guns and more than 100,000 rounds of ammunition. ”

"Well," Frunze smiled, he was not completely satisfied with all the strength he used, this point of men and horses may not be able to stop the enemy's advance, if he wants to win this war and hold the enemy down, he still needs to increase his strength," Alexander. Comrade Ilyich. When will the central reinforcements of our troops arrive? ”

"It's not clear yet. Comrade Frunze. But they are certainly already on their way. ”

"Well, it looks like I'll have to wait patiently, right?" Frunze tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair, dissatisfied with the current state of affairs. After a day of fierce fighting, the workers' Red Guards in his hands had already suffered relatively large losses, and if the reinforcements were not enough, then he was not sure that he would continue to block the enemy's footsteps.

"Send a telegram to the Central Committee. Tell Comrade Lenin and the Central Committee that the situation is already quite serious for us here. "We need more weapons...... There are many more soldiers, the enemy in front of us is quite strong, and the comrades are slowing down the enemy's advance with blood and lives every moment. ”

"Good one, Comrade Frunze. I immediately sent a telegram to the Central Committee, and I am confident that the Central Committee will support us. Voroshilov swore that of course, he did not believe that there would be reinforcements, they were in a difficult situation here, and Petrograd would not be much better. It's just that in front of Frunze, he had to say this.

"I hope so." Frunze sighed, he knew much more about the difficulties of the Central than Voroshilov. So he emphasized: "Tell the comrades. We must not just wait for the support of the central government, but we must take the initiative to do so. Mobilize all the forces you can to mobilize all the masses and fight the enemy together! ”

In fact, Lenin did not forget Frunze, who was holding back Kornilov's reinforcements in Pskov, and before the meeting began, he had sent a strongly worded telegram to the 1st Machine Gun Regiment, forcing them to quickly go to Pskov to reinforce Frunze, which was struggling to support.

The Mentor knew very well that if Pskov, which was the hub of transportation, fell into the hands of Kornilov, then the troops transferred back from the direction of Riga would pour into Petrograd in a steady stream, and then it would be all over.

The problem is that the 1st Machine Gun Regiment also faced a lot of difficulties, Petrograd to Pskov was about two hundred kilometers, and the lines of communication were again in chaos, in this case, his troops could only travel on two legs, which, of course, was not a big deal, if they did not carry so many weapons, ammunition and supplies.

If you want to throw away weapons, ammunition and supplies quickly, but Frunze's troops desperately need all this, so it is easier said than done.

Kozhemiyaka turned his head to look behind him, and he saw a barely large procession of comrades, who looked a little languishing in the scorching sun, carrying large bags and small bags in the mud, and behind them were horses and mules laden with goods. Behind them was a group of Cossacks riding tall horses, and compared to their bitter self, these guys on horseback followed them with laughter and laughter, as if they were watching the excitement.

To this, Kozhemyaka expressed strong dissatisfaction: "Hell, those damned Cossacks are still with us. What exactly do they want to do? ”

Kozhemyaka looked at the group of Cossacks with exasperation, these flies-like nasty guys had been following the group since the troops left Petrograd, no doubt on a surveillance mission. He didn't like that, he didn't like to be watched, and he didn't understand what these damn Cossacks were trying to track and spy on them.

The Cossacks were never on the side of the Russian people, they were the tsar's dogs, then they took refuge in the Provisional Government, and now only God knows whether they were on the side of Kornilov or on the side of Kerensky. Especially now that no one in the 1st Machine Gun Regiment likes to be watched by Cossacks, God knows if these damn bastards are up to something.

"Kozhemiyaka!" The company commander shouted.

"What's the matter, Comrade Company Commander?"

The company commander pointed to the Cossacks: "Inform the comrades to immediately unfold and form a battle formation, and I will drive away those pesky flies." ”

Kozhemyaka was taken aback by this order. Let the troops spread out in battle formation? This will most likely lead to a brief firefight. But the problem is that although he also did not like these damned Cossacks, the other side did not show obvious malice, and it seemed contrary to their mission to engage in a battle with a Cossack unit here.

Kozhemiyaka felt the need to remind the company commander: "Comrade ...... company commander"

"Carry out my orders, Comrade Kozhemiyaka." The company commander shouted in an unquestioning tone. Of course, he had not gone crazy yet, nor was he rash, he explained: "This is the order of the regimental commander to let the troops spread out in battle formation, and then you go over and negotiate with them. He added. It's to scare and scare them. ”

Without hesitation, Kozhemiyaka saluted him: "Understood. Comrade Company Commander. Then he turned around and passed the order to the three platoon commanders, who in turn passed the order to the squad leaders, and at the end of the day, every soldier in the second company got the order, and then they moved quickly.

Igor. Captain Danielka and his men were horrified by the battle formation of the 1st Machine Gun Regiment, and when they saw what they had quickly erected, what looked like some kind of heavy machine gun. Fear immediately seized their hearts. They never imagined that the 1st Machine Gun Regiment would actually launch an attack on themselves. The captain quickly assessed the current strength comparison, and it seemed that he was no match for others at all.

The captain was right, the distance between the two sides was less than two hundred meters, and they simply couldn't run away in front of so many enemies, and they still had machine guns...... Surrender seems to be the best option.

"Second Lieutenant Iseyevich." Danielka turned to one of his men and asked him to fly the white flag. But before he spoke. The second lieutenant had already called out, "Captain, they have someone coming." ”

Danielka turned her head to look, indeed, as the second lieutenant said, a soldier had already walked out of the ranks, and it seemed that they were ready to ......

"Captain. What do they want to do? A soldier asked suddenly.

"Shut up!" Before Danielka's opening. Second Lieutenant Iseyevich had already pointed his head at the poor fellow, "Ivanovich. Be polite when talking to your superiors! ”

Danielka, on the other hand, doesn't care too much about this, and what's the point of pursuing all this red tape when life is not guaranteed.

However, when the oncoming soldiers raised the white flag, Captain Danilka immediately reverted to the usual Cossack arrogance, "These damned Bolsheviks, they will look for trouble, I'll ask them what they want to do!" He straightened his wrinkled uniform, and then said to the soldiers: "Don't act rashly, there are many of them!" ”

"Damn Cossacks, what are you angry about...... Tsar's doglegs, I bah! ”

The Russians did not like the Cossacks, and in their opinion these damned nomads were a bunch of utter savages, who had always won the favor of the tsar by suppressing the people. If it were possible, every normal Russian would like the Cossacks to die naked.

"Comrades, be quiet." The company commander interrupted the sarcasm in the queue, although he did not like the Cossacks either, but the revolutionary soldier should look like a revolutionary soldier.

After a while, Captain Danielka walked up to Kozhemiyaka, who was holding the white flag, and the creature was silent for a while, pretending to be reserved, and then said: "I am ......"

"Captain," said Kozhemiyakad, though it seemed rude and impolite, but Kozhemiakazhen did not have the patience to rub shoulders with him, "our regimental commander asked me to tell you that you should immediately lead your men out and return to Petrograd, and not continue to follow us. ”

"I received an order from the upper peak to come and escort you!" Captain Danielka said nonchalantly, "You have no right to command me. ”

Kozhemiyaka replied very forcefully: "Captain, in the current situation, you had better accept our advice. We don't need escorts, and our regimental commander just doesn't want to see misfortune happen to you and your men while roaming around here. Believe me, Captain, this is for your safety. ”

Although Kozhemiyaka's tone seemed so tough, even an idiot could hear the threatening element in his words, and Captain Danielka was not an idiot, his face instantly turned white, and he glanced at the machine guns that had been set up with the corner of his eye, and felt his body begin to tremble slightly, but he still wanted to hold on, swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, and he insisted: "Our action was approved by Prime Minister Kerensky!" ”

"We are not in Kerensky's hands. Therefore, it is best for you to take our advice, and your superiors will probably never know what happened to you. "There's a good chance you'll encounter Kornilov's rebels, it's very likely!" ”

Captain Danilka's heart twitched violently, and his body trembled even more. After such an obvious threat, he felt that he could not hold on any longer. But he still insisted, albeit in a weak voice: "I just carried out the order. ”

Kozhemiyaka snorted softly and said contemptuously, "We're just carrying out orders!" ”

"I ......," Danielka opened her mouth, but nothing came out. He looked up at the soldiers of the 1st Machine Gun Regiment who were gearing up, and from so close he could clearly see the expressions on their faces—expressionless, only a completely emotionless indifference, as if they were looking at the dead.

The captain finally made a decision: "Please tell your commander that we will leave now, and thank him for his concern for our safety." ”

"I'll tell him, Captain."

Danielka turned his horse's head and struck away faster than he had come, almost as if he had fled. Behind them, the soldiers of the 1st Machine Gun Regiment booed, mercilessly mocking the cowardly Cossack.

Soon after, the news reached Petrograd, and Lenin, who had just denounced Kamenev at the meeting, was the first to be informed.

"Do you know what they're trying to do?" Mentor asked.

Sverdlov explained: "It seems that Kerensky asked them to monitor the movements of the 1st Machine Gun Regiment. ”

Lenin snorted softly and said disdainfully: "Kerensky again? This guy looks like he's going to make a move, really...... Hum! (To be continued.) )