Beiyang 1917

1918年7月13ri20:15察里津南方面军司令部

"Comrade Sekin, Comrade Joseph, urgent call from Moscow!" The chief of staff of the Southern Front, Gidis, hastily pushed open the door of the conference room of the headquarters, startling the political commissar of the Southern Front, Joseph, and Commander Sergin, who were discussing.

The Southern Front of the Soviet Red Army was formed on the basis of the three battles of defending Tsaritsyn. It governed the eighth, tenth and tenth armies. After the supply of troops was replenished, the three armies of the Southern Front reached more than 20 men at most. Yegorov's Second Army had seven infantry divisions and one Budyonny special cavalry division, with a total strength of more than [-] men.

Voroshilov's Tenth Army had seven infantry divisions with a total strength of more than [-] troops, while Chernavin's Eighth Army had five divisions with a total of more than [-] troops.

Sergin, the commander of the Front Army, got up and went to Gydis to pick up the telegram, but the Chief of Staff of the Front Army said with an embarrassed face, "It was sent by the Moscow Central Committee to Comrade Joseph, a member of the Revolutionary Military Committee."

Although Joseph also served as political commissar in the Southern Front Army, he was a member of the North Caucasus Revolutionary Military Committee of Soviet Russia and a member of the Central Committee of the Central Committee of Soviet Russia. He was the de facto supreme leader of Soviet Russia in the Tsaritsyn direction. Bubnov, chairman of the Tsaritsin Soviet and a member of the North Caucasus Revolutionary Military Council, is also a member of the Central Committee.

"Comrades! Moscow seems to have believed the enemy's rumors that our Soviet Red Army has failed on the right bank of the Volga River. They plan to negotiate an armistice with the Ufa coalition forces and ask our southern army for advice! What the hell! This must be Trotsky What do you mean!" Joseph hurriedly read the telegram, thumped the table hard, and said with a livid face.

At this time, Bubnov, a member of the Central Committee who had just gone to the bathroom, hurried in and asked, "I heard that Moscow has sent a telegram. Did you say how to bring Yegorov and the others back? Moscow can still mobilize those troops." To the Eastern and Southern Fronts?"

"Comrade Bubnov, you came just in time. Moscow didn't mention how to take the main force of Yegorov's Second Army across the river. Instead, it planned to negotiate a truce with the Ufa coalition forces, and even asked for our opinions on abandoning Tsaritsyn! The pipe in Joseph's hand was trembling slightly, and Moscow's move made him completely unacceptable for a while!

Sergin, the commander of the Southern Front, and Gidis, the chief of staff, looked at each other speechlessly. Both Joseph and Bubnov were members of the Central Committee, and Sergin, the commander of the Southern Front, was not even an alternate member of the Central Committee in the Bolshevik Party. After Tsaritsyn presided over the work of the North Caucasus, he basically controlled all the power of the party, government and army in the direction of Tsaritsin.

The small member of the Central Committee who was born as a blacksmith in Georgia didn't even look down on Trotsky, the chairman of the Supreme Revolutionary Military Council of Soviet Russia. Therefore, although Sergin was the commander of the front army, his status and qualifications in the party were far behind Joseph's. According to experts and Sekin, a former Russian general who joined the Bolsheviks for less than a year under Trotsky's auspices, being a man with his tail between his legs is the only wise choice to protect himself.

"Abandon Tsaritsyn? How did this happen?" Bubnov's qualifications and reputation in the party were no less than that of Joseph. In fact, before and during the October Revolution, Central Committee member Bubnov's popularity and Much more influential than Joseph.

When Joseph came to the North Caucasus to serve as a member of the Revolutionary Military Council, Bubnov was a member of the Ukrainian Revolutionary Military Council and political commissar of the Don River Military Region. However, because of the armistice negotiations between Russia and Russia, he abandoned Belarus and Ukraine and recognized the local The autonomous zheng fu and du li, Bubnov had to come to the North Caucasus.

"That's right! It must have been Trotsky's idea. The defeat of the Eastern Front on the right bank of the Volga frightened many people! Moscow asked if we both agreed to abandon Saratov to the area south of Kursk in exchange for peace The armistice of the Ufa coalition forces, the two sides stopped all military operations with the Volga River as the boundary, and are ready to recognize each other!"

Joseph's face was ashen, and the pipe in his hand was rattling and rattling. The commander of the Southern Front Sergin and the chief of staff Gidis remained silent. Obviously, Moscow was asking about the two men who were in charge of the work in Tsaritsyn. The opinion of a member of the Central Committee has no place to intervene. Although they were very surprised to give up Tsaritsin, they did not expect Moscow to make such a big determination. Of course, it is all due to the appetite of the Ufa coalition forces!

"The telegram said, please carefully consider whether we can hold the Volga River if we don't stop fighting. Now the main force of the Eastern Front Army is basically lost, and the Third Army on the left bank of the Volga River has only more than 7 people. The remaining two divisions of the group army, with no more than 10 people, were almost all taken by the southern group to the right bank of the Volga River. In this case, it is very difficult to rely on the third group army alone to defend the front line of Kazan!"

As Bubnov said, he sighed in his heart. It seems that Vatsitis's life in the Eastern Front Army is not easy, and the disastrous defeat of the Eastern Front Army's southern group has made the situation show signs of collapse. It is impossible for Moscow to find a way to rescue the main force of Yegorov who is still on the right bank of the Volga River. Perhaps, negotiating a truce with the Ufa coalition forces is the only way to preserve vitality and main force?

"The matter of the Eastern Army is for Vatsitis to think of a way for himself. It is his responsibility to defend the front line of Kazan. Our Southern Army is only responsible for the defense of the front line of Tsaritsin. Comrade Segin, do you think that there is no need to rely on the remaining first line?" Eighth Army and Tenth Army, can we hold the banks of the Volga River?" Joseph looked hopefully at the commander of the Southern Front.

These days, with Trotsky's concessions under Ulyanov's mediation, and of course Trotsky's return to Moscow Central, the relationship between Joseph and Sergin is not bad. Joseph knows that Kamini Fu is also seeking the position of commander of the front army. Instead of letting Kamenev, who has the title of central committee member and much higher qualifications and prestige than himself, come to the southern front army as the person in charge, of course he is more concerned about Sergin, who has the title of military expert. It's good to fiddle and manipulate a little.

Sergin thought for a while after hearing the words, and said unhurriedly, "The eighth and twelfth armies now have a total of 12 people. If food and ammunition are guaranteed, it will not be a problem to hold the Volga River. We still have The fleet in the Volga River region can be used, but the premise of making this judgment is that the attack is Kolchak’s White Guards, and it cannot exceed 20 people!"

"If Ufa's coalition forces launched an attack, it's hard for me to make a judgment. Yegorov crossed the river with 8 main forces of the Second Army, and the telegram he received today said that he only had 33000 infantry and Budyonny's cavalry left. The division is still there, and the rest have lost almost half of their strength, and this is still a situation where there is no direct encounter with the ground troops of the Ufa coalition!" Sergin's analysis obviously has great reservations.

"Comrade Commissar, although I don't know if the battle report released by the Ufa coalition forces to the world's media today is exaggerated, it is a fact that Yegorov's troops suffered heavy losses in the large-scale air strikes of the enemy's air force. The three divisions of the North Route Army of the Group Army, with nearly 30000 troops, were completely annihilated by the coalition forces overnight. It's very difficult!"

The chief of staff, Gidis, interjected from the side, but the guy was muttering in his heart, Nima, Yegorov and Tukhachevsky, five armies with more than 23 people and hundreds of cannons failed to defeat Ufa In the battle, how did the remaining two armies of our Southern Front with 12 people hold rifles and machine guns win?

It would be a miracle if this could be won. Comrade Joseph thought that he could win the battle by shooting a few division commanders and brigade commanders. I don't know when he will wake up!

"Uh..." Joseph was splashed with cold water by what Sergin and Gidis said. After thinking about it carefully, it was really a bit difficult. Although this guy was not angry with Trotsky or Vatsitis, but I still know more or less about Sla and Lezhevsky, including Tukhachevsky, the youngest army commander of the Eastern Front who was so bullish before. When it comes to leading troops to fight, these people are definitely two brushes.

"Egorov said that the main force of his Second Army hadn't even met the main force of the ground forces of the Ufa coalition army before they were blown up by the air force of the opponent's air force. The main force is not much worse. You must know that Tukhachevsky first led the Southern Group to attack Ufa, but it was a force of 16 troops and 33 artillery companies.

"Comrade Political Commissar, we now have only twelve artillery companies in the Eighth and Twelfth Army of Tsaritsyn, which is completely incomparable with the Southern Group of the Eastern Front Army. We are required to defend the Volga River and Tsaritsyn. To be honest, we can't hold it, as long as the Ufa coalition forces are attacking!" Jidis, chief of staff of the Southern Front Army, also continued.

"Couldn't it be impossible to defend the Volga River? The Kolchak White Guards don't have a fleet on the Volga River. We block it from the water to prevent the other party from crossing by force! Isn't that okay?" Joseph asked unwillingly.

"The Volga River can play a certain role in defense, but how to defend the 800-kilometer-long river bank from Kazan to Tsaritsyn? The opponent's air force planes are not afraid of the natural danger of the Volga River. With the strength of the coalition forces, they have to cross the river." We must find a way!" Sergin obviously has no confidence in holding the Volga River, the key is that the performance and record of the Ufa coalition forces in the Ufa Battle frightened almost everyone.

Whether it is Yegorov of the Southern Front or Tukhachevsky of the Eastern Front, they are all generals with real talents and courage to fight tough battles, but in Ufa, they were beaten all over the ground by the opponent. Now that Tukhachevsky is alive or dead, although Yegorov ran the farthest and did not fall into the siege, he was at the end of his battle, and it was useless to find a place to cross the river.

Even, once the weather clears, it is hard to say whether Yegorov's [-]st Army can escape the pursuit of the coalition forces!

"If you keep the green hills, you don't have to worry about firewood. Comrade Joseph, since the people in Moscow asked us this, it is obvious that most of the Central Committee members in Moscow have reached a consensus. Perhaps, in order to preserve our vitality, we must reluctantly give up Tsaritsyn!"

Andrei Sergeyevich Bubnov, a member of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union, a member of the Revolutionary Military Committee of the North Caucasus, and the chairman of the Tsaritsin Soviet, put his hand on Joseph's shoulder with a heavy face, looking into the other's eyes and said.