Page:Albert Beaumont - Heroic Story of the Czecho-Slovak Legions - 1919.djvu/26



We were discussing the matter when an attack suddenly came on the flank. An Austrian lieutenant from another hill had ordered his company to attack the Russians. He led the attack, and came along at the head of his men, firing at the Russians himself with a rifle. The Russians were taken by surprise, and their first instinct was to kill me. They took me for a traitor. Three soldiers rushed at me with the butt-end of their rifles raised to smash my brains. I dodged, as I had never dodged in my life. I got several blows but they glanced off. I ran a few yards as fast as I could, and by that time the Austrians got near enough to drive back the Russians. We fell back, and the Russians started in pursuit.

I ran about 500 yards, and had the snow waist deep. The lieutenant ran with me, and his men followed. When I got to a place where I could breathe I turned on the lieutenant. I called him a beast, a pig, and all the names I could think of. If I had had my sword I could have run him through. I said: “Could you not see that you were exposing me to be killed by the Russians, you daft dog?“ Funnily enough he agreed with me! He admitted that he had done a silly thing!

The fight meanwhile continued. But the Russians got the advantage. Our troops on the hills around were dislodged. Most of them were rushed out of their positions by surprise. My own orderly was captured. He was taken into the Russian lines, but the poor devil pleaded, foolishly enough, to be allowed to return to me. He was very attached to me. He said he had all my things and wanted to bring them to me. The Russians were amuse, and told him, he might go. He actualy found his way back to our lines, and told us funny stories. He reported that our colonel and all his staff were taken prisoners. The colonel was found still asleep in his sleeping bag in a trench. The Russians shouted to him, “Vstavay“ (“Wake up!“), and had to yell into his ears. Even the firing had not awakened him. They pulled him out of his sleeping bag with only half his uniform on.

We waited in vain about 600 yards behind the place where I had been taken, and hoped to be captured again. The silly Austrian lieutenant consented to surrender with me. But after two hours we got tired of waiting. The Russians, instead of coming on to where we were, had fallen back, taking with them all our provisions in the village. We slowly walked on and came across some stragglers. The rest of our regiment was collected some distance behind the village. My company was gone, but the regiment was reconstituted with reserves, and I got a new company. We were ordered to retake our positions, but the Russians had occupied them and strengthened them. They held them