Commander Hugo Helmanis's reconnaissance mission of October 11, 1919

Having received a little training a month ago, and seeing that nothing was too difficult for Latvian soldiers to reach the enemy, the Bolsheviks decided to be more careful going forward.

According to the stories of those who came to the area, the red Latvian riflemen were replaced with parts of the 4th Infantry Regiment; the wings were now well guarded with observation posts and sentries.

For this purpose, two cannons were placed in Stary Dvor, which were covered by 30 people. This concentration of force was aimed at the possible deployment of our new "landings". But unfortunately, the enemy made a mistake and underestimated us.

Having gathered as much information as possible, I immediately decided: "We need to remove the battery!"

I immediately drew up an operation plan. I decided to sail along the source of the Aiviekste River and land on the northeastern shore of the lake, where landing was more convenient; from there, cross the swamp and go out onto the Starij Dvor-Sola road, where I would leave an observation post; then surround Starij Dvor from the rear, post a guard on the Starij Dvor-Juchnovi and Starij Dvor-Ivdiņi roads, and then take the battery with the rest. On my order, 7 boats were prepared. I chose one officer from the company with 27 soldiers and a German light machine gun.

After the previously described preparations, on October 10th at 9:00 PM we started the march.

Unhindered, we emerged on the northeastern shore of the lake, where 3 soldiers remained to guard the boats. The rest of us were soon embraced by the gloomy swamp in its disgusting embrace. The approach of winter was already making itself felt with a light frost. Her faithful companion, the carefree destructive north wind, howled and wandered across the sad, deserted plain, which only takes on a slightly more attractive appearance in summer.

In the darkness of the night, it was difficult to distinguish the nearest objects. Some soldiers, local Latgalians, knew the area very well, so we trusted their leadership. We covered the first kilometers relatively quickly, sinking only to our boots, but the further we went, the more unbearable it became. The difficulties of September 6th were repeated. I told the soldiers to stick together, because it was no wonder to get lost in the dark.

Brotherly, one by one, the machine gun we had taken with us was handed over with its accessories - boxes of tapes. Often a suppressed exclamation would burst out from someone who was lost, or another heart-warming curse; others would rush in with a short commotion, and the one who had been put on his feet would be satisfied again, rejoining the marching line. Thus, persistently pressing forward, we conquered step by step with indescribable patience.

Every thing has an end, — even our monotonous stirring of the swamp... We breathed more freely, because the mud had noticeably decreased. Finally we stumbled onto the road, — the guides had fulfilled their task well. The sharp contrast remained unforgettable in memory — behind us the endless but here and further — solid earth. In the nearby forest we rested our tired limbs for a while. I allowed them to "smoke" the last "smoke", but hiding it in their hands, as naughty schoolchildren do.

Along the way, I assigned three people to an observation post that would remain in this place. 11 minutes later we began to bypass Stary Dvor from the rear. The road to Yuchnov was guarded by another observation post, which had 3 people. Having reached 300 steps near Kvapany, we saw the red post, who was leaning against a tree and, as you can see, was dozing. Two soldiers, at my command, crept up from behind him and captured him without the slightest noise. Having hastily interrogated the red one, I learned that there were 20 people at the guns in Stary Dvor, and the rest were at the posts and in the Kvapany tavern.

The next enemy post had already spotted us and fired several times. There was no time left for thinking. I ordered the officer with 9 soldiers to take the tavern, while the rest of us and I rushed to the top of the battery. We stormed the house where the artillerymen were sleeping, tore down the door and woke the Red Army men from their sweet sleep with our "indecency". Capturing them was a snap.

I hastily sent an observation post to the Ivdiņi road. The boys were cheering about the acquisition of the cannons. Soon the breathless soldiers came running back and reported that the tavern was impregnable: "the communists were inside and were showing unusually fierce resistance: throwing hand grenades through the windows and not surrendering." Ours, hiding behind nearby haystacks, were waiting for further orders. I was overcome with anger and annoyance. I ordered the first red artilleryman to turn the barrel of the cannon towards the tavern and, from a distance of 50 steps, fire a few shells at the windows: the latter collapsed along with part of the wall. Suddenly everything fell silent. We ran up to them, threw hand grenades and, having waited for their explosions, went inside. The communists, hit by grenades, were lying on the floor. The three alive escaped on the other side, but ours shot them.

It was already morning, the clock showed half past six. Returning to the battery, I saw some soldiers looking at one of the prisoners and heard them say: "Chinese". It was no longer a secret that on the Estonian front, our neighboring Estonians, fanatical Chinese troops, stunned with cocaine, were attacking. We had not yet seen them: so I became very curious and approached. An Asian in the full sense of the word: a yellow, bony face, with a flat, depressed nose and elongated Mongolian eyes. I tried to speak to him in Russian, but he remained silent as a grave. Then I pointed my finger at the cannon and loaded it. The Chinese instinctively guessed my thoughts, turned the barrel of the cannon towards Ivdins himself, began to show with his hands that he should aim there and, without waiting for any instructions, fired several shells. With the help of this helpful artilleryman, I carried out the first part of the plan. My plan was: to fire all the shells at Ivdiny, Yuchnovy and Dirvany, after which to render the guns unusable, because because of the swamp they had to remain in the hands of the Bolsheviks. Then came the second task. We took the keys out of both guns, blew up the remaining parts with hand grenades, and smashed the wheels. At the signal I ordered them to return to the observation posts. Counting my men, I found one slightly wounded and one missing. Later I learned that he had intentionally stayed behind to go over to the Reds. The combat mission ended. I commanded the Red Army men: "Stroysya" - "Po porjadku nomerov raschitaisya!" They heard: "Perviy, vtoroi, tretijy"vtt until "gevyati polni", so 18 prisoners.

Having collected the trophies we had won, we set off home. Although we were carried away by the joy of victory, which made us look beyond many troubles, the torment of the repeated crossing of the swamp did not diminish. The muddy puddles, covered with a thin layer of shining ice, cooled our overheated minds a little, and as we entered the swamp, our warm feet sank again into the cold turbidity. Shivers ran through our whole bodies as if in a fever. That too was endured. We found the boats waiting for us. Now came the big headache. We had only seven boats at our disposal, four in each, but we were, including the prisoners, 46 people; in addition, weapons, ammunition and other trophies arrived. I divided the people and belongings into boats, looking at their width, length and depth.

The crowded boats sank so deep into the lake that the water threatened to overflow the sides at any minute; no one, except the rowers, was allowed to move. We sailed all the time along the shore, through the thick reeds. In the middle of the lake we would have gone to the bottom, because the wind was blowing there, raising huge waves. Our soaked feet became completely numb. We returned to Āboliņi at 10:00.