Returning to Rzhev, Romanov joined the Red Army there on 5 June and became a company commander in the 4th Karachev Rifle Regiment of the 2nd Tver Rifle Division. The regiment was relocated to Zubtsov in October, where it was reorganized as a special purpose battalion in the 1st Rifle Division; Romanov became head of the battalion school. The battalion was sent to the Eastern Front in May 1919, fighting against the White Army at Samara, Orenburg, and Akhtubinsk. Injured in a train derailment at the Aim rail siding on 30 October, he became head of the regimental school of the 2nd Tatar Rifle Regiment of the 1st Separate Volga Tatar Rifle Brigade in the 1st Army at Atkarsk following the disbandment of the battalion school. With the regiment, Romanov was sent to fight against the Basmachi in Fergana Oblast during November, serving in actions at Aralsk, Tashkent, and Andijan, where he was wounded in the head in May 1920. Andrey Yeryomenko wrote that Romanov had met Mikhail Frunze while in the hospital. For his leadership of the regimental school in the campaign Romanov was made assistant regimental commander, and upon his recovery from 7 June commanded the regiment, which later became the 11th Turkestan Rifle Regiment of the 4th Turkestan Rifle Division.