Chapter 30 Chapter nine

Chapter nine The day after the Cossack Front Soldiers' Congress ended, the 10th Don Cossack Regiment, following Kaledin's order, marched to the town of Kamensk, with the purpose of arresting all participants and disarming the most revolutionary Cossack troops. armed. At this time a mass meeting was being held at the station.The crowd was huge, the Cossacks were excited, and the speaker's words evoked various reactions. The chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council Pocherkov stepped onto the podium and said: "Fathers and brothers, I am not a member of any party, I am not a Bolshevik. My only goal is justice, happiness and fraternal unity of all working people, no more oppression, no more rich peasants, no more bourgeois And the rich, everyone can live freely and unrestrainedly... The Bolsheviks will achieve this goal and are fighting for it. The Bolsheviks—are workers, that is, laborers like us Cossacks. Only The workers who joined the Bolshevik Party were more enlightened than we. The old regime made us ignorant, they lived in the cities and learned to understand life more correctly than us. So, although I did not belong to the Bolshevik Party, in fact, I am also a Bolshevik .”

After the Cossacks of the Tenth Regiment got off the train, they sneaked into the venue.Half of the regiment consisted of particularly large, well-groomed Cossacks from the town of Gondorovsk, who were mixed with Cossacks from many other regiments.The mood of these people changed drastically immediately.The Cossacks refused to carry out the orders of Kaledin issued by the regimental commander.As a result of the propaganda efforts of those who supported the Bolsheviks, a division occurred among them. But at this time Kamensk was in the chaos characteristic of a town adjacent to the front line: some hastily assembled Cossack troops were sent to occupy and strengthen the defenses of the occupied stations, and the vehicles frequently rushed to Zverev— —Lehaya's side sailed.Some units are re-electing command staff.Many Cossacks who did not want to fight any more quietly left Kamensk.Belated representatives of some villages and towns poured in.There was an unprecedented lively scene on the street.

On January 13, the negotiating delegation of the Don River Government of the White Army came to Kamensk. Composed of Captains Karev, Bagelov and Kushnarev. Thick crowds greeted them at the station.A detachment of Cossacks from the Atamansky Regiment of the Praetorian Guard escorted the delegates to the post office building.The meeting between the members of the Revolutionary Military Council and the delegation of the White Army Government continued overnight. A total of seventeen members of the Revolutionary Military Council attended the meeting.Pocherkov first sternly refuted Agyev's statement.Because Agayev accused the Revolutionary Military Council of betraying the Don and colluding with the Bolsheviks.After his speech, Krivoshlykov and Ragutin also spoke.Captain Kushnalev's speech was repeatedly interrupted by shouts from Cossacks gathered in the corridor.A machine gunner, representing the revolutionary Cossacks, demanded the arrest of the delegation.

The meeting went nowhere.It was already two o'clock in the evening, when it became clear that no agreement could be reached at all, so the proposal of Karev, a member of the Don Cossack Council, was adopted to send a delegation from the Revolutionary Military Council to Novocherka SK for final talks on regime issues. After the delegation of the Don Government of the White Army left, the delegation of the Revolutionary Military Council headed by Pocherkov also set off for Novocherkassk.Unanimously elected representatives of Pociolkov, Kudinov, Krivoshlykov, Ragutin, Skachkov, Golovachev and Minayev.Several officers of the Apermansky regiment captured in Kamensk were held hostage.