Contrary to the expectations of the Bolsheviks, the establishment of Soviet power on the periphery of the Russian Empire did not go smoothly. The Volga region, which at first enthusiastically accepted the new order, by the spring of 1918 came to its senses and rose up with a powerful wave of resistance, which overnight washed away the new owners. Former front-line officers of the tsarist army quickly organized volunteer “white” detachments in many cities, which launched a successful offensive against the “reds”. One of these detachments, by the will of fate, was headed by Lieutenant Colonel V.O. Kappel, and from that day his name became widely known as the name of a skillful partisan commander, delivering sudden and crushing blows over and over again...