The Cordele dispatch. (Cordele, Ga.) 19??-1971, 1918-11-14
A MODERN coRTEz


Of hostile territory furnishes a tale
no less thrilling than related OF Cor
tez' drive from Vera Cruz to the an
cient Aztec capital in the sixteenth
century. Like his illustrious prede-
cressor, he saw his forces grow as
his successes multiplied, but his sue
cesses. also like those of the adven-
turous Spaniard, were due to his un-
tagging courage and ingenious tao
tics and to the loyalty of his men.
When the order came from Petro-
grad countermanding the permission
given for the free movement of the
Crecho-Slovaks toward Vladivostok
it found them strung out in thin
line from the Volgato Vladivostok. A
Il day truce, following the first ser
ious clash at Irkutsk when the Boil
sheviki undertook to disarm a train
load of Czechs, applied only to East
ern Siberia and was utilized by
Gaida's men to get running start for
The plunge through the tickest Of the
struggle. Thereafter his policy ap-
pears to have been to constantly pre-
pare and execute some new surprise
until the enemy was in such a state
Of nerves that the approach of body
of Czecho-Slovaks, no matter how
small, was likely to throw him into
panic.
Assisted by Cossacks and byCzechs
from Chiliabinsk, Colonel Kadlets,
then commander Of the Czech froces
west of Irkutsk, fought his way west
to Omsk, taking towns enroute He
improved the time during the armi-
stice to clean up the line westward
to the Trials.
Meantime, with resumption of hos
tilities to the eastward the. Czech
Slovak forces between Kransnoyarsk
and Irkutsk found themselves hard
pressed and near to the end of their
resources. Kadlets doubled back east
ward and by series of thanking
falling upon the Bolshe-
vike in the night, stampeded them
time after time In this way he push
ed through to the relief of his coun.
trymen a. Krasnoyarsk anc irrutsk.
From Irkutsk 20 the southernmos;
point of Lake Baikal there are forty
one tunnels. 1t was the Czechs' aim
to clear out the Bolsh eviki without
giving them time to blow up these
tunnels and to that end they started
a small contingent overland to sur
prise the Bolsheviki beyond the series
of tunnels. These men marched four
days under greatest difficulties. They
became so pressed for food supplies.
that they had to eat their horses.
But they accomplished their object
They attacked the Bolsheviki in the
middle of the night, captured their
machine guns and started them north
ward in disorder The Bolsheviki sue
ceeded in blowing up one tunnel, the
last one in the series.
The Czechs and their Russian al
lies now had a clear track to the
southern extremity Of the lake. to
village named Slujianka, where the
blocked tunnel presented a serious
obstacle to further progress. They
few light guns over the
ridge and marched several contin-
gents Of troops around the obstruc-
ton only to find the Bolsheviki mas
sed in force some twenty miles be-
yond. The Czechs and Russians suf-
fered heavy losses in the fighting
here and were forced back to within
a few miles of the tunnel
Meantime the Czechs had cleared
the tunnel sufficiently to pass troops
through, on foot General Gaida, who
had succeeded Colonel Kadlets in com
mand. caused decoy messages to fall
into the enemy's hands, begging for
and declaring that the tunnel was
hopelessly blocked and he in despe
rate straits, surrounded and at the
end Of his resources. The Bolsheviki