 In fact, acting as commander of a combat section (12,000 bayonets, 600 sabers, 4 guns, an armored train), he routed the Cossack corps of Andrei Shkuro.On May 12, he participated in the military congress in Mariupol, convened by the Military Revolutionary Council of the rebels to determine the attitude towards the rebellion of Nikifor Grigoriev.Like most of the participants in the congress, considering Grigoriev a clear counter-revolutionary and ally of Denikin, he spoke in favor of an armed struggle against the Grigorievites and for maintaining an alliance with the Bolsheviks.