In the early morning of 23 June, on the dirt road between Archand and Klyon, a column of cavalry with no end in sight was hurrying through the morning dew, starting with Cossacks with spears and fur hats, followed by regular cavalrymen with large-brimmed hats, light carriages towed by two horses, and cavalry artillery wagons and baggage carts drawn by four horses. Some of the open mopeds were equipped with the Russian version of the wheeled Makqin machine gun - the Cossacks called this combination "dragon chariot", and the official name was "horse machine gun chariot", and the column ** had 12 of these "four gun wagons [4 divisions of the Beria 4th Division] with 12 towing 57-mm light cavalry guns.

00 officers and men and their mounts had been marching continuously in the dark for 8 hours, and the men and horses were a little tired, however, the continuous sound of guns from the direction of the Alkut River stimulated the nerves of the strong, arrogant, rough and aggressive knights in the column, unlike the infantry units that were demoralized and poorly equipped, the cavalry units of the Russian Empire always maintained high morale and were adequately supplied— This is largely due to their wartime habit of looting and burning large areas of settlements without distinction between the enemy and the enemy.

The young division chief of staff, Chekasev, urged the horses to catch up with the division commander Lebesky, a strong man with an exaggerated mustache, in an exaggerated mustache, and said in an eager tone: "Commander, let me say that the brothers are so tired, they have been fighting every eyelid since the midnight march, and I think everyone needs to rest, have a hot meal and a cup of hot tea to recover their strength, and the horses will also be fed - after that." What do you think of letting our lads go into battle with the clearest minds and the fullest enthusiasm? ”

"In my opinion......" Lebesky pinned his whip to his belt and pulled his snuff box out of his saddle bag, "as you say, I would prefer to fill them with vodka and whip them on their buttocks, so that it doesn't matter what the mind and the passion are, these mad dogs will tear their enemies to shreds and swallow them with skin." ”

"Division commander......" Chekasev wanted to speak, but was stopped by Lebesky with a gesture.

"Keep marching. My child - did you hear that gunshot? Not far away, the friendly forces need us, how can we stay in such a place? No one is allowed to rest until we reach the battlefield we must go to—not including myself. ”

"Yes...... However, the liaison group sent to the 15th Division has not returned so far, and there is no news before [there is no news, will it be ......?"

"Any accident can happen on the battlefield, if you don't see those stupid people within 5 minutes, send a few more teams over......"

"However, after we received the order, we have not been able to communicate with Division Commander Anton Hoff, not by phone or by telegram. Maybe the 15th Division was already ...... when we set off"

Lebesky cocked his nose and roared angrily: "But? Maybe? No. No, you can't talk like that, I don't need such ambiguous speculations, I want exact information, what the person who reported the intelligence must have seen with his own eyes, yes, see with his own eyes! ”

At this moment, a fast horse rushed towards him panting, and was about to hit the division commander's mount before neighing and stopping.

Lebesky angrily drew the whip from his waist and raised the whip to beat: "You fool. Madman, what are you doing? Do you know how to ride a horse? You're still a cavalryman? You ......"

"Wait," Chekasev stretched out his hand to block Lebesky, "it's a Cossack." I don't think he did it on purpose, look, he got a back injury. ”

The Cossacks crouched on their horses. With a painful expression, he struggled to speak, "I'm sorry, I ...... I was in the reconnaissance team of the Bikhov Company, and we were met by the enemy behind the woods in front...... The enemy ambushed, and I was the only one left to come back......"

Lebesky put away his horsewhip and frowned: "Enemy? How many enemies are there? ”

"I can't see clearly in the fog, but ...... Firepower, firepower is very strong, many, many machine guns and artillery are strafing at the same time, and our team ...... in the blink of an eye"

The Cossack's voice grew weaker and weaker, and suddenly he tilted his body and rolled off his horse with a thud.

"Someone, take him to the ambulance."

Seeing the Cossacks being carried away, Lebesky twisted the upturned mustache tip next to his nose, muttered for a while, and suddenly realized something, and turned sharply to Chekasev: "No, there is a problem - the order is to go down, stop the march, the 1st Brigade will defend in front of the forest and on both sides of the road, the 14th Regiment is on the left, the 16th Regiment is on the right, they all dismount and camp on the dirt slope on the left and put up columns, as for the machine guns, give the 14th Regiment and the 16th Regiment a company each, and the remaining one company will be on standby with me." Got it? ”

"Yes, listen ......"

Before he finished speaking, suddenly, a dense burst of gunfire broke out not far ahead, followed by the chaotic noise of people and horses.

"Damn, it's still a step too late." Lebesky gritted his teeth and slapped his thigh fiercely, "Who will show me, what the hell is going on?" ”

Within a few minutes, the people sent to the front to understand the situation had not returned, but a group of Cossacks from the vanguard rushed past the division commander with a scream, the spears in their hands were gone, and some even lost their rifles and sabers.

Lebesky pulled out his pistol, stopped one of the Cossacks who rushed later, and pointed the muzzle of the gun at his head: "What stupid are you, and your brothers, doing?" Damn, you'd rather be shot by your own people than face the enemy? You still deserve to be called a faithful Cossack under His Majesty the Tsar? ”

The "usually savage and foolish domestic dog" this time held his head high and justifiably protested aloud: "Sir, if there is a group of infantry or cavalry on the other side, in any case an enemy made of flesh, we will not hesitate to go forward, and even perform horse juggling in front of them, and in any case our spears will surely pierce their internal organs, cut their necks with our sabres, and shoot their assholes with bullets!" ”

"Then you ought to do as you say, and charge like a Cossack, instead of turning your horse's head and defiling your ancestors, so that everyone, including His Majesty the Tsar, will see your jokes!"

"I'll do that, as long as you find a way to get rid of those tanks, we all know that spears and sabers are useless against those things, bullets are just scratching, yes, we haven't read a few books, we're rude, stupid, but we're not sick in the brain, and we're not going to die again and again! I've said everything I need to say, now you can shoot me. ”

Lebesky narrowed his eyes and lowered the muzzle: "How many tanks did you see?" ”

"All over the place, they rushed out of the woods, rampage, strafing, firing ......"

Lebesky aimed at him again: "How many tanks! ”

The Cossack craned his neck: "I can't count...... Fifty, or a hundred, I can't really count them...... Shoot me. ”

"No, now you give me back to my original position, and the Chinese tanks will punish you shameful deserter for us." Lebesky shook the muzzle of his gun and motioned for him to turn around.

The man turned his horse's head, drew his saber, and screamed with tears: "God, mother, they told me to cut a tank with a saber!" Forget it, you don't know what a tank is! ”

Shouting, with his legs between his legs, he rode his horse and rushed forward......