Page:Albert Beaumont - Heroic Story of the Czecho-Slovak Legions - 1919.djvu/64

 of the 4th Regiment directed these operations. We felt that it was one of the biggest actions we had yet been called upon to fight, and took steps accordingly. The 4th Regiment and two battalions of the 6th and 7th Regiments defended Bakmatch, and began the attack on the morning of March 10. The Germans were taken by surprise and some confusion followed. Three of our batteries opened fire at a distance of about a mile and a half, and the whole German line staggered.

But they had large reserves coming up, and brought them into action. Their artillery also replied, and the battle continued for several hours, with great stubbornness on both sides. I may say that a Bolshevik battery which took part in the action did very good work for a while, and enabled our men to make a successful bayonet attack on the Germans, routing their gunners and taking possession of their batteries. But when an attempt was made to take away the guns it was found too difficult a task owing to the marshy ground, and they were abandoned.

On March 11, 12 and 13 the battle continued over a large area, our battalions beating and routing the Germans everywhere, so that at last, after four days of most obstinate fighting, the enemy retreated in disorder. Our operations were commanded by Colonel Červinka, whose strategy proved superior to that of the Germans, just as the courage of our men was superior to theirs. Our losses were severe enough, for we could not afford to weaken our numbers, but the German losses were far greater. Our men counted from 1,500 to 2,000 Germans dead on the various battlefields, and we lost 400. To cover their failure the Germans announced that they had taken 11,000 Czecho-Slovak prisoners. This was most absurd, as on principle not one of our men surrendered, and we could account for all. Our regiments after the severest action we had yet fought returned almost intact.

The glorious result was that our railway communications were now fully assured, and our retreat could continue without further menace from the enemy. The Germans were so thoroughly beaten that they did not renew their attempt, and we learned later they fell back on their positions at Gemel. Our reputation and prestige rose enormously and reports went round that we numbered more than 300,000. The fact is in one of our battalions defending the nearest point to Bakmatch we had only 580 bayonets and two machine guns. Our whole fighting force was only 4,000. The German division was one of the best, too, composed exclusively of the so-called “Reichstruppen“, and they expected an easy victory. They learned that we were more than a match for them.

The railway lines as far as Pensa, a distance of 800 kilometres (about 500 miles), were now at our disposal. A huge quantity of material