While Kozhemiyaka's company was engaged with the Whites at Mirerovo, the main force of the 1st Machine Gun Regiment was still in Boguchar, a hundred kilometers away. It was not that the regiment was slow, but that according to the central plan, Frunze's troops were supposed to build a defensive line along the Don River, and the 1st Machine Gun Regiment was supposed to reach the Boguchar line to form positions and act as the vanguard of the main force.

The new regiment commander Blyukhel carried out the operational plan of Frunze and the central government to the letter, and only sent a small number of reconnaissance troops to Milerovo, after all, with the strength of the White Army, if it was really determined to go north, it could completely run over it from Milerovo in Pingchuan, let alone a regiment, even a division could not withstand it.

On the Boguchar front, with the Don River at its back, it is dangerous to defend, so it is easier to carry out defensive operations. Blyukhel himself preferred to stop the White Army in Boguchar, so after receiving the information that Mirerovo was attacked by the White Army, the first thing he thought of was to abandon Mirerovo.

In his opinion, since the central government has decided to defend the Don River, then Mirerovo has no particularly important military and political significance, and it may pay a heavy price if he insists on it, which is really not cost-effective. A more pragmatic approach at this stage would be to build defensive lines in Slavyansk, Severodonetsk and along the Don River, firmly blocking the White Army south of the Don River and west of the Volga River. After the main forces arrive on the battlefield in Ukraine, a decisive battle will be held.

Frunze took Blyukhel's opinion more seriously, and the veteran's opinion did have merit. But the only regret is that the defense line of Slavyansk and Severodonetsk is easy to say, and the defense line along the Don River is not too problematic, but the Tsaritsyn direction in the east is very problematic.

A large number of White partisans were active near Tsaritsyn and along the Volga River. It drew the attention of the local garrison, which was already small in number. If the White Army in the Lugansk direction chooses to move decisively eastward. Then a big hole will be ripped open here. Further on are the Urals and Siberia. It was empty, and letting the White Army rush over was tantamount to letting the tiger return to the mountain.

Moreover, according to the previous strategic guidance of the central government, the ideal state is to annihilate the White Army south of the Don River and west of the Volga River, and it is best not to let a single White Army cross the Volga River.

In order to achieve such a strategic concept, it was necessary to exert sufficient pressure on the route of the Whites' eastward flight, and although Milerovo was inconspicuous, it was located at the point where it was stuck at the point of the northward and eastward flights. If you lose this place, you will not be able to effectively put pressure on the Luhansk direction, and you can let the enemy calmly play.

So. When Blyukhel called him to ask him if he could give up Mirerovo, Frunze flatly refused, and the current situation not only could not give up Mirerovo, but also had to fight a beautiful blocking battle here, and this node must be choked!

Although Blyukhel regretted this result, as a soldier, he must first obey the orders of his superiors, and when fighting, he must not only think about the comfort of his troops, but also consider the overall situation.

Judging by the situation in the south of Ukraine as a whole, Milerovo is small. Although it is difficult to organize defense, his existence is a nail. Holding Mirerovo would allow the Red Army to continue to threaten the communication route from Luhansk to Tsaritsyn and block the route of the Whites' eastward flight.

"Urgent gathering!" Blyukhel gave the order, "Let the first battalion go lightly, be sure to get to Mirerovo before dusk, and tell the comrades stationed in Mirerovo that they must hold out until dark!" ”

What is the situation in Mirerovo now? It should be said that it was not bad, relying on the streets and houses, they repelled three attacks of the White Army, annihilated hundreds of White bandits, and the commissar Spanovich was very satisfied with the performance of his young men, who recorded in the battle log:

"In this battle, I learned the true value of these young lads, who held their positions when the enemy shelled, and not one of them showed fear or panic, and often squatted for half an hour, or even an hour...... They also had to guard against broken branches and broken bricks from their bombed-out houses, and each fighter showed no complaints. When the White Bandits began to attack, they fought valiantly with their weapons in their arms, holding on to every inch of their positions and every house...... I couldn't see their expressions, but I was deeply touched by their fighting spirit...... Without any order, some fighters ran to their wounded comrades to help them or take their place in the fight......"

To tell the truth, the Red Army soldiers, although brave and demoralized, became worse and worse as the battle progressed, and Kozhemiyaka remembers it very well: "The enemy's shelling became more and more intense, from the beginning of the sparse shells, to the shells falling almost every second. The enemy concentrated its fire on our defensive lines, and the shells exploded right in front of the yard where we were stationed, and the whole house shook violently because of the explosion. Between the shelling, I could hear the sound of gunfire and the shouts of the enemy...... Everywhere there was smoke and dust from the explosion, and the company commander and his comrades hid in the basement, leaving only the observation post to keep an eye on the enemy's movements...... A platoon of heralds ran in, and from him we learned that a platoon had engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand battle with the enemy, but the outnumbered enemy had broken through the defensive line, and the platoon commander asked the company commander to support them immediately, otherwise the enemy would divide and surround us......"

The company commander wiped the bayonet, in the previous counter-charge, his bayonet drank enough blood, every time, he would wipe the bayonet again and bright, the corners of his mouth cracked, showing a weird smile, and then firmly raised the gun and stood up, "Cooking class, follow me!" ”

Later in the history of the 1st Machine Gun Regimental Battle, it is written: The fighting became more and more intense, and the enemy's shelling hit the fragile houses like an iron fist, and many of the houses were blown up to crack the beams and turn their heads in all directions...... The earth trembled violently. Although the battle lasted for nearly 5 hours, we bravely kept most of the enemy out of the city, and we will continue to fight to the end...... The enemy is growing more and more, like a pack of hungry wolves surrounding us...... Soon there was a hole in the defensive line, and the enemy, with a tenfold numerical advantage, launched a wave of attacks, and a platoon was killed and wounded, and the defense line was in danger! In the most difficult moments of the battle. The company commander, Comrade Semyonov, led the comrades of the cooking squad to rise heroically. With grenades and bayonets, once again drove the enemy out of Milerovo!

"Bastard!"

Krasnov dropped the telescope. Just now, they were only a little close to breaking through the Red Army's defense, but they still fell short, and the attacking troops escaped in disarray like a group of panicked rabbits.

This is not the first time, five attacks in a row, all of which have hit a head and broken blood, Krasnov does not understand, where did the Red Army that Lugansk encountered with a touch of collapse go? Could it be that the Red Army here is not inherently afraid of death?

The current situation is such that Krasnov simply cannot explain it. There were definitely not many Red Army troops in the city, but he couldn't get in, and after several hours of fierce fighting, in addition to wasting a lot of shells and harvesting more than 200 lives, he didn't even grab a single brick from Mirerovo.

The staff officer suggested: "Do you want to rest and recuperate and fight again in the afternoon?" ”

Krasnov's face was cloudy, he was silent for a moment, and snorted coldly: "No! Go on the offensive! Get the Warlords ready. Only advance and not retreat, those who flee will not be killed! ”

I have to say. Krasnov's decision was correct, and Kozhemyaka's troops, having repelled their last attack, were almost exhausted. If the Whites give up on the attack, they will have a precious respite. And now, they're like a rubber band stretched to the extreme, and with a little force, it will break!

Ten minutes later, the company commander Semyonov, who was covered in blood, had to call his superiors again: "Our defense line has been broken through, more than half of the soldiers have been killed or wounded, and we can only rely on a few nodes in the city to fight the enemy...... We need reinforcements, and we need ...... soon"

Before the words were finished, the communication was cut off, the artillery shelling of the White Army destroyed the telephone lines, and Blyukhel could only give another order to the 1st Battalion, ordering them to speed up and reinforce Milerovo at any cost.

As Milerovo's outer defenses were breached, the battle turned to the most brutal and arduous street fighting. Kozhemiyaka's company, relying on the company as the core, held on to the buildings adjacent to the street and fought with the White army, and every second someone was shot and killed, and there was a repeated struggle between the street and the house.

Kaganov, the platoon commander of the White Army tank company who participated in the battle at that time, still has lingering palpitations when he recalls this bloody battle half a century later: "The superiors did not plan to invest in the tank company at the beginning, as a rare amount of armor in the whole army, all the armored vehicles of our company are treasures, all imported goods...... To use it we have to get permission from Krasnov...... By three o'clock in the afternoon, we were exhausted by the enemy's tactics and desperately needed to open the situation. Krasnov felt that it was time to use armored vehicles......"

"At that time, we were at the forefront in an armored car made in Renault, France, and we looked at the street through a narrow observation gap, and there was smoke everywhere, and there were craters, debris and, of course, more corpses...... There were all kinds of corpses, missing arms and legs, moving heads, curled up in a ball, and what shocked me the most was the two charred corpses hugging each other. It's hard for me to imagine how they died, and I can't think about ......"

"We moved as slowly as we could, every minute and every second the Red Army shot at us, the bullets hit the hull of the car and made a clanging sound, the machine gunner Nikolai was quickly hit, he was hit by the bullets coming in from the observation hole, he died without making any sound, the smell of blood permeated the car, none of us knew who would die next!"

"We were lucky, except for the unlucky Nikolai, the Red Army's shooting did not cause us much trouble, and I was optimistic that we could run it all the way through and end the battle! However, I underestimated the cruelty of the war and underestimated the creativity of the fighters on the battlefield, and the Red Army quickly changed its tactics and did not shoot in vain at the armor plates of the combat vehicles, but aimed at the weak tires...... Soon our armored car broke down and lay in vain in the middle of the road, and we looked at each other, wondering how to cope with this state - to get out of the car and run away? Or wait for the infantry brothers in the back to come and rescue us? ”

"The stalemate didn't last long, and soon we heard our infantry brothers outside the car yelling at us: 'Get out of the car!'" We don't understand at all why we should jump out of the car, at least in our opinion, the inside of the car is much safer than the empty streets outside, at least the Red Army can't do anything about us for the time being! ”

"Tell me the truth. It was one of the stupidest decisions I've ever made in my life. If we are outside the car. It won't be taken for granted...... At that time, our fuel tank was leaking, and the volatile gasoline could be ignited at any time, and in fact it was quickly ignited by the Red Army with incendiary bombs, only Konstantin and I escaped from the coffin before the explosion, and the other two people, including the driver and the commander, were turned into fireballs along with the armored car...... Even from a distance of thirty meters, we could still smell the barbecue, but not only did it not whet our appetite, but it kept me away from this once delicious food for the rest of my life......"

When the White Army's chariot assault also failed. Krasnov was a little helpless, his troops had been on the assault all day, and the Overseers had shot hundreds of men, even the Baby Pimple armored vehicles. But this little Mirerovo just refused to give in, and even the resistance became more and more fierce.

Now, Krasnov must think carefully about whether to continue the offensive or withdraw his troops. Truth be told, he's in a bit of a dilemma, go ahead and attack. I don't know how many troops will be invested in Lu Dao, and how many men and horses will be lost. The current loss was enough for him to be in pain. But if the offensive is not continued, this day's efforts will be in vain, and there is a risk that the Czechs will be ridiculed.

Glancing at the smoke-billowing Milerovo, Krasnov was speechless for a long time before he said: "Rest for an hour, first consolidate the position." ”

Krasnov will regret this decision for the rest of his life, as mentioned earlier, Kozhemiyaka and his comrades-in-arms have reached the limit, and the subsequent battles can be said that they are overdrawing their lives. As the battle progressed, the company commander Semenov died, and there were only a dozen people left in the entire company, and eighty percent of them were wounded and insisted on fighting.

Their positions or strongholds have been compressed into a small space, and there is no room for maneuvering. To make matters worse, the ammunition was running out, and even the bayonets were bent. It can be said that they only have the last breath left, as long as Krasnov is a little more bold and resolute, Mirerovo will be in his pocket.

And it was at this most critical and difficult moment that Krasnov hesitated, retreated, and gave ample time to the battalion that came to reinforce him. When the 1st Battalion arrived at Mirerovo at dusk, it was a sign that the fighting here would be brutal and saw-sawing.

Let us breathe a sigh of relief for the time being, and also give the Red Army and the White Army fighting in Mirerovo a respite. This sudden outbreak of fighting had already attracted the attention of the Bolshevik Politburo, who was sitting at the Smolny Palace thousands of miles away.

"Does the battle that took place in Mirerovo indicate that the White Bandit Army has made its strategic intentions clear, and does it indicate that they have reached an agreement within themselves? This question is crucial! The Mentor asked with a grim face.

Indeed, after taking Luhansk, the White Army did not show clear strategic intentions for a while, they flew around like flies, constantly making tests in several directions. Now the Politburo is just trying to know whether this fly has completed its tentative work and whether it has found its way. This question will determine their next countermeasures, and it will also determine the direction of the entire Ukrainian battlefield.

The Mentor asked the most important question: "Is this a new tentative action of the White Bandit Army?" ”

Trotsky glanced at the telegram sent by Frunze, which was about the specifics of the battle for Mirerovo, and I have to say that if all that was said above was true, it would be a bit shocking.

"According to Comrade Frunze's telegram, I don't think it's like a temptation of the enemy." Trotsky said calmly and forcefully, "The enemy threw in a regiment of troops at once, and also used artillery and combat vehicles, which was completely absent before...... I think this speaks of the importance that the enemy attaches to Mirerovo, as well as their determination to fight! ”

Although Trotsky did not say what the White Army's determination to fight was, everyone present could hear that Old Toll meant that the White Army was probably preparing to flee eastward.

Sverdlov frowned and asked: "Isn't this judgment a little hasty, after all, the scale of the battle in Mirerovo is not large, what if this is a trick of the enemy?" ”

Trotsky asked: "What ruse?" ”

Xiao Si really couldn't answer, because according to Frunze's battle plan, after the main forces of the Red Army were assembled, they would go straight to Luhansk along Mirerovo and fight a decisive battle. If the White Army wants to distract the attention of the Red Army, it should avoid the Mirerovo direction, and it is completely possible to make a feint attack on Severodonetsk or Slavyansk and divert the attention of the Red Army to the Kharkov direction.

Xiao Si thought for a while and said: "The White Army may also be preparing to go north, so they attacked Mirerovo, judging from the troops they invested in the first day of battle and their determination to fight, this possibility also exists." ”

Trotsky knew that such a possibility was not impossible, and who let Mirerovo go both north and east, the White Army had too much room to play, so it was really difficult to speculate.

However, Lao Tuo also has a bit of creative thinking, he feels that no matter what the White Army wants to do, whether it is going north or east, Mirerovo will not be able to cross the hurdle. In this case, let's press over and defend this node with heavy troops, then they will be frustrated whether they flee east or north! (To be continued......)

PS: Bow again and thank you for the second kill potato and Comrade Juventus!