Beiyang 1917

"When the enemy's artillery deployed on the high ground opened fire, the Fourth Army discovered that the artillery of the White Guards on the southeastern defense line was not six artillery batteries, but at least one artillery battery. The large-caliber heavy howitzers of at least 1 artillery companies were ambushed. Under the dense firepower of 9 artillery companies, the three divisions of the Fourth Army rushing to the opponent's first-line positions suffered huge casualties, and Rzhevski had to order a retreat. !."

Trotsky read it in one breath, his face seyin is uncertain, there are 30 artillery companies, 9 of which are large-caliber heavy artillery, of course it is difficult to climb out of such a trap!

"How about the casualties of the Fourth Army?" Ulyanov asked anxiously.

"The telegram said that more than half of the three infantry divisions of the Fourth Army rushed to the position, and only 14000 people were withdrawn!" Sdrviyov, who had read the telegram before, rushed to answer.

"Didn't the South Group strengthen 20 artillery companies to the Fourth Army? Where did Rzhevsky use the artillery?" Kamenev asked puzzled.

"The terrain is bad. In the fierce battle with the opponent's superior artillery group, only six mountain artillery companies were left with 20 artillery companies on our side, and the ammunition was almost exhausted!" Trotsky looked at the second half of the telegram, Pick up an important explanation.

"Didn't they send three cavalry divisions to detour from the flanks? Why didn't it work? Where did the cavalry divisions go? There are nearly 30000 troops in three divisions!" Zinoviev yelled.

Trotsky looked down, and said in a heavy tone, "The 13th cavalry division that detoured on the north route was intercepted by the opponent's armored train troops. When they retreated, they had already lost a regiment of troops. The mixed infantry division that detoured on the south route was intercepted by the opponent The superior artillery fire was overwhelmed, and only one regiment was withdrawn. The First Cavalry Division of the Fourth Army, which was attacking the northeast rear of Ufa, lost contact. Judging from the faint sound of artillery from the north of Ufa City, the First Cavalry Division may have been killed. Annihilated!"

"What kind of battle is this fighting! Tukhachev just withdrew? He still has at least ten divisions in his hands, why did he just withdraw?!" Ulyanov was obviously pissed off by a series of bad news. I'm furious!

"Yes! The Southern Group's offensive has been frustrated. It has withdrawn to Chernihivka, 12 kilometers southwest of Ufa, to set up a position for rest. There are still about 5000 troops left in the army, of which more than 2 are lightly or severely wounded.- There are still 17 artillery companies left in the artillery group, but there are not many shells left." After reading the telegram, Trotsky raised his head and continued,

"The Front Military Committee of the Southern Cluster is at the end of the telegram, please ask for the next battle plan!" The voice of the chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Military Committee was obviously quite heavy.

"Didn't it say that Ufa only had five divisions of the enemy? Didn't it mean that our troops and cannons were more than twice as many as the enemy? Didn't it say that the Southern Group was the main force of the glorious Eastern Front Army? What kind of battle is this fighting! What a prodigal!" Ulyanov walked around the room pinching his waist, his face flushed red.

"Listen, ask for instructions on the next battle plan! What are you talking about? After the formation of the Southern Group, there is only one mission, and that is to wipe out the enemies in the direction of Ufa cleanly and thoroughly, and take Ufa! It took only two battles. The loss of 35000 people and half of the artillery in just one day, Rzhevsky should be responsible for this! Tukhachevsky can't escape his responsibility!" Ulyanov waved his arms and shouted.

"Comrade Chairman, if reinforcements and supplements are not available, the Tukhachevskian Group, which lacks medical care and ammunition, will no longer be able to launch an offensive against Ufa. What we have to decide now is to let the Fifth Army and The main force of the Ninth Army should speed up their reinforcements and attack Ufa again, or simply... give up the battle plan to take Ufa!" Trotsky couldn't help reminding.

"Give up? How can this work? It is our established policy to take Ufa and cut off the retreat of the Kolchak gang in Kazan. The purpose is to seize the attempt of the Allied forces east of the Ural Mountains to intervene westward. If this is abandoned halfway, How are you going to fight on the Eastern Front? Are you going to retreat and continue to guard the west bank of the Volga River? Return the large plains and land on the right bank of the Volga River that was finally recovered to Kolchak?"

Ulyanov yelled at Trotsky with his hands on his waist.

"If you don't give up, you need to speed up the reinforcements of the Fifth Army and the Ninth Army in the direction of Ufa. If calculated by marching 100 kilometers a day, these two armies will have at least three days to rush to Ufa, and before they arrive It is still doubtful whether Tukhachevsky's southern group can block the enemy's counterattack!" Although Trotsky was in a heavy heart, he still patiently explained to the little mentor.

"By the way! Did the enemy in Ufa counterattack and pursue?" Kamenev couldn't help asking.

"It was not mentioned in the telegram. It is estimated that most of the casualties of the other party were not small, or that the Ufa White Guards were not strong enough, and they did not dare to leave the position to pursue and fight in the field. I know the commander Tukhachevsky. Although he is young, he is still young. If you have a brain, even if you retreat, you will not run around in a swarm, and you will leave behind and ambushes. It is estimated that the Ufa defenders will not dare to leave the trenches and artillery fire support." Trotsky flipped through the telegram again, thinking on the road.

"Didn't Kolchak's White Guards be called paper tigers all day long, but Nanqun Group was really bitten by his paper tigers!" Bukharin said out of nowhere.

"What I'm worried about is that the coalition forces east of the Ural Mountains have already intervened in the battle situation in Ufa. The Southern Group has been followed by the reconnaissance plane painted with the West Siberia Autonomous Zheng Fu mark in the process of marching towards Ufa. In fact, we all Knowing where the West Siberian Autonomous Zhengfu came from, it is clear that the Allied Forces in the east of the Ural Mountains belong to the Allied Forces!" Trotsky expressed his concerns!

"If the coalition forces have already intervened in the Ufa battle, why didn't they pursue it? I heard that one division of the Chinese is equivalent to three of our divisions, and there are too many aircraft, cannons and machine guns! Tukhachev's Southern Group will not Stupid enough to fight with someone for two days without knowing whether it was a Chinese or a Russian who fired the gun?" Kamenev said.

"However, ever since the Southern Group of the Eastern Front crossed the Volga River, the buzzing reconnaissance planes painted with the Siberian Autonomous Zheng fu logo have not stopped. Tukhachevsky didn't even dare to organize machine gun fire to shoot down the opponent. I am afraid of retaliation by fighter jets and bombers! Doesn’t this explain the problem? Now we only have the Red Army and Red Navy, and the sky is an undefended space! The few broken planes left by Tsarist Russia are enough to take off. Not enough parts!"

Trotsky, chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Military Council, waved his arms emotionally and shouted!

"What's the use of saying this? Could it be that the planes of the Allied Powers circled overhead a few times, and we put down our weapons and surrendered? The stronger our Red Army builds up and the more brilliant its victories are, the more the imperialists and their lackeys fear us. The less you dare to interfere easily!" Sdelviyov also shouted a little excitedly.

Apparently, the setback of the Southern Group of the Eastern Front Army, which Moscow had high hopes for, made several central and yang members here feel a little lost all of a sudden. I understand in my heart that the Eastern Front is the main force of the entire Soviet Red Army. If they can't even defeat the White Guards in Ufa, what hope does the Soviet have?

You must know that the elite troops of Kolchak's all-Russian temporary government are the 15 White Guards on the Kazan front, and the Ufa direction is just a few infantry divisions and temporarily armed volunteers who retreated from the right bank of the Volga River. That's all, if a wise and brave general like Tukhachevsky can't beat the opponent's second-rate troops, who is Kolchak in Kazan still his opponent?

"Sdrviyov is right. Some of our comrades are always worried about this and that. This is of no benefit to our cause. If the Allied Powers or the Allied Forces want to interfere, they will interfere sooner or later. We have to follow Go at your own pace, if the imperialists lead you by the nose, the Soviets will lose their hard-won power and future!" Ulyanov's face was ashen, and he would throw Trotsky at every turn against the Allied Powers and the east of the Ural Mountains. The coalition forces moved out to scare people quite dissatisfied.

"Then what should we do now? Tukhachevsky is still waiting for Zhong Yang's call back, whether to continue to retreat westward, or establish a front in place, waiting for reinforcements from the Fifth Army and the Ninth Army. In three days, the Fifth Army will The Ninth Army has a long way to go and escorts the grain, and it will take another day to arrive near Ufa! If they want to withdraw, then there is no need for the two armies to continue to reinforce, but they should prepare to withdraw to the west of the Volga River. "

Trotsky spread his hands helplessly. Obviously he was inclined to retreat and preserve his strength. As for when he will make a comeback, only God knows. This year's summer grain shortage in Russia is a foregone conclusion. Standing on the opposite side of the Soviet Union again, if the Battle of Ufa fails, it will have a huge blow to Soviet Russia and the Red Army, so he did not dare to make a rash and arbitrary decision, but kicked the ball to Uri, who has always been in charge Yanov!