Beiyang 1917

1918年7月15ri19:30莫斯科克林姆林宫

"Georgy Vasilyevich, please hurry up and pick the important ones. How about the issue of prisoners of war? Of the remaining 260 million prisoners of war, how many more did Ludendorff agree to repatriate?" Ulyano asked the husband anxiously.

"Vladimir Ilyich, members of the Central Committee, the issue of prisoners of war is not easy to deal with. Last time we brought back 80 prisoners of war. It turned out that we spent a lot of money on doing some work through our relationship in Berlin. Secondly, the Germans are not fuel-efficient lamps, that is what they did on purpose!

Last time we brought back those prisoners of war with Bolshevik tendencies in the prisoner-of-war camp, and we found out afterwards that we were in agreement with the other party. They were afraid that our Bolshevik organization would grow stronger in the prisoner-of-war camp!So it just happened to be easy to send these people back! Chicherin spread his hands helplessly.

The zhong yang committee members in the meeting room looked at each other after hearing the words. Obviously, the Germans, as always, hated the Soviet Russian regime, hated the Bolsheviks and our doctrine, and the imperialist bourgeoisie still regarded the Soviet as a scourge. If you admit it, you will be a friendly leader!

"Georgy Vasilyevich, don't hesitate, how many more prisoners of war did Ludendorff agree to repatriate?" Trotsky was also a little impatient at the moment, and asked loudly at his former deputy Dao, thinking about it, the reconstruction of our Soviet Red Army, including the replenishment of the Volga Front Army, is all about bringing back a few hundred thousand people from the German prisoner-of-war camps. Could it be that this plan has come to nothing?

Because Chicherin had just returned to Moscow just before evening, and the issue of the repatriation of prisoners of war had not achieved the desired result, he did not dare to report privately to Ulyanov and Trotsky in advance, anyway, there were many people in the meeting Otherwise, the taciturn Trotsky and the emotional Ulyanov pressured him, and Chicherin was afraid that he would not be able to stand up at all.

"No more than [-] prisoners of war can be repatriated this time, and the rest will not be repatriated to us. At this moment, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, and Azerbaijan have all declared du li, plus the previous Finland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia, because we reached a compromise with Germany, we also recognized the du li of these countries.

Therefore, the Tsarist Russian prisoners of war who were originally from these countries were taken back by them first, and the remaining prisoners of war, because they tended to Kolchak's all-Russian temporary government, would not be repatriated to us, prisoners of war They even threatened hunger strikes and riots, and refused to return to Soviet Russia. If they wanted to go back, they also asked to go back to Kolchak! "The news brought by the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs is obviously realistic and cold.

After Chicherin finished talking about the prisoners of war, all the central committee members present frowned. Last time, 80 prisoners of war were brought back in one breath, making everyone think that things were easy. Now it seems that it is pure luck. Between Germany and Austria and Soviet Russia, those new satellite countries are changing their ways to rob people from themselves.

"If Kolchak's temporary all-Russian government hadn't been supported by the Allied Powers, the remaining prisoners would have been taken back by the White Guards!" Chicherin took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his brow. Obviously, this fellow In Berlin, a lot of energy and words were spent dealing with the Germans, and another [-] prisoners of war could be repatriated back to Soviet Russia, and the remaining nearly one million prisoners of war continued to stay in the prisoner-of-war camp instead of being sent back to Gao On Erchak's side, this is already the best result that Soviet Russia can achieve in diplomacy at the moment.

Of course Joseph was also very disappointed when he heard the news. The 30 newly repatriated prisoners of war were just a drop in the bucket. The Soviet Red Army lost 20 people in the entire Battle of Ufa. However, it is difficult to deal with the gap.

If it doesn't work, we can only find a way to transfer troops from other areas, or get workers' pickets and workers' garrison divisions from Nizhny Novgorod, Moscow and Petrograd to supplement and strengthen the Volga Front Army. The overwhelmed Russian peasants under the famine and surplus grain collection system are really a bit unreliable, and the source of soldiers for the Soviet Russian Red Army has to rely on the working class.

"Georgy Vasilyevich, how is the matter of arms aid going? How many weapons can the Germans provide to equip aircraft and cannons? Especially anti-aircraft weapons such as anti-aircraft guns. When will the first batch arrive?"

Kamenev, who was sitting next to Chicherin, couldn't help but turned his face to the side and asked anxiously, this guy is just waiting to serve as a military commissar in the Volga Military Region and the Front Army. If there are not enough troops, you can recruit on the spot. If you don't have aircraft, cannons and machine guns The strengthening and goodness, no matter how many people are placed in front of the coalition forces, it will be delivered to the door.

When Kamenev asked such a question, Ulyanov, Trotsky, Sverdrov, and Joseph all pricked up their ears. Together with other central committee members, several bigwigs focused their attention on diplomatic affairs. As for the people's commissar, I am afraid that if this guy opens his mouth again, it will be bad news, and the next thing will be really difficult to handle!

"The problem of ammunition is very complicated. Due to the different standards of weapons on both sides, even if the Germans are willing to sell us Mauser rifles, we don't have enough bullets to guarantee the supply of ammunition. Machine guns are better. The German mk08 is essentially derived from the Mark It was upgraded from Qin, but the caliber of the bullets is not good enough, so we basically can’t use the German infantry weapons.” Chicherin still had a bitter expression on his face.

"What about aircraft, artillery, and anti-aircraft machine guns? We can produce rifles and Maxim by ourselves. The arsenal in Nizhny Novgorod can work overtime to meet the needs. The arsenal in Tsaritsyn can also produce bullets and shells. The arsenal in Moscow and Petrograd The key to being able to produce machine guns is airplanes, cannons, and anti-aircraft guns. We don’t have airplanes at all, and our own production capacity for cannons and anti-aircraft guns is far from enough!” At this moment, Joseph himself is anxious.

"Joseph Vissarionovich is right. According to the analysis of the previous Ufa battle, the coalition air force has a huge air superiority. If there are no planes and anti-aircraft guns, our infantry can't be replaced by just being beaten. , the battle will be very difficult, and it will have a great blow to morale!"

This time, it was Commissar Zhong Yang, member of the Revolutionary Military Committee of the North Caucasus Military Region, and Chairman of the Tsaritsin Soviet Bubnov. Although he was at odds with Joseph in Tsaritsyn, he was not a layman in terms of military affairs. .

When he was the chairman of the Revolutionary Military Committee of the Ukrainian Military Region, the reason why Bubnov had such a tense relationship with Voroshilov and Chernavin below was that he liked to stick to the end and surpass the army commanders and division commanders. , Commanding and mobilizing the troops below has a great relationship.

Here, Ulyanov, Trotsky and Sverdlov stared at the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs with rather unfriendly eyes. I was afraid that the results of what this guy said would disappoint people again. The red card in Comrade Chairman's hand The blue pencil was accidentally broken by his pinch.

"The Germans are willing to provide 20 divisions of Russian-style infantry weapons, mainly various Russian-style rifles, which come from the seizures in the European War for more than three years. In addition, they are willing to provide 50 artillery batteries, most of which are also from the seizures. In addition, Ludendorff promised to provide German anti-aircraft guns for [-] anti-aircraft batteries. All of this requires us to pay with cotton, grain, coal and oil. Of course, gold can also be used. !"

The People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, Chicherin, bought from Ludendorff, something that could not only keep the Soviet Red Army from starving to death, but also never get enough to eat. There are only twenty German-style anti-aircraft artillery batteries here. The guns are eye-catching, but obviously, since the Germans have provided anti-aircraft guns, it means that the matter of aiding aircraft will fail.

Sure enough, Chicherin went on to say, "Aircraft are useless at all. The German-Austrian Allies have been suffering from a shortage of combat aircraft on the Western Front. At this time, it is impossible to squeeze out a single aircraft for us! Aircraft I can't help it at all. At the moment, only Britain and France among the Allied Powers have a large number of aircraft. Even if the United States is so strong in industry, although the US military has already participated in the war on the Western Front, the US troops on the battlefield are also short of aircraft, cannons and machine guns. !"

"There is also the Chinese Air Force in the Ufa coalition army. They have at least 300 fighters in combat west of the Ural Mountains. There may be the same number of aircraft deployed in Siberia and the Far East. Otherwise, I think the aircraft can only Find a solution from the Chinese!" Zinoviev interrupted abruptly.

Immediately afterwards, the central committee members in the conference room whispered. Obviously, the weapons that Chicherin brought back from Germany can only be said to be unsatisfactory, but if the 20 anti-aircraft artillery batteries can be equipped with the front-line ground troops, at least the Soviet Red Army will be able to face the enemy. The air reconnaissance and attack of the coalition air force is no longer so helpless and helpless, at least there are defensive moves, and only God knows how effective it will be.

"Where do we get food and cotton now? There is a famine all over the country, but there is coal, but the coal miners have joined the army and went to the front line, let alone oil. Azerbaijan declared du li, and the Baku oil field no longer belongs to us. up!

Although Turkmenistan on the opposite side of the Caspian Sea has established a Soviet, it has been cut off by the White Guards in Transcaucasus and the Alash Republic in Kazakhstan. Where can we get so much oil now?The supply of oil on the Baltic coast is not enough even domestically! "It was G. I. Opokov (Lomov), People's Commissar of Justice who spoke.

"That's right, the supply of materials throughout Russia is highly tense. The level of industrial and agricultural production has been destroyed to the point that it was not as good as it was in 1905. The coal for the trains is often not supplied. The oil fields in Baku are not as good as Azerbaijan's du li. If it no longer exists, how can we gather so many supplies to exchange these arms with the Germans?" Krestinsky, chairman of the Petersburg Soviet, also frowned.

The members of the central yang chattered about the shortage of supplies and the shortage of supplies, while frowning and thinking about other ways to do it, Chicherin spread his hands and made a helpless expression. The guy spent a lot of time in Berlin to get these arms from the Germans. As for how to get enough supplies to exchange for them, it depends on the comrades in charge of production in the country. He is a people's commissar for foreign affairs, not a labor commissar or a businessman People's Commissar.

"Everyone be quiet, the noise is as decent as a market, there will be a solution for the supplies, these arms must be brought back as soon as possible, Georgy Vasilyevich, have the Germans agreed to deliver the arms first, supplies Send it when we have it all together?" Ulyanov, the chairman of the Central Committee of the Soviet Union, beat the table to stop the noise in the conference room, and asked his foreign affairs commissar with a frown.

"If we can use gold to pay 30% of the cost of purchasing arms, the other party promises to pay the remaining 70% within half a year, using gold or materials!" Obviously, the People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs' foreign negotiations were not without incident. Harvest, the payment terms are obviously quite good. For the Soviet Russian government with internal and external troubles, it is much easier to gather some gold than food.

Therefore, as soon as Chicherin's words fell, the faces of the central committee members in the Kremlin's large conference room were relaxed. It seemed that the matter was not so bad that it was unacceptable. Come back with some dry goods!

"Very good! Georgy Vasilyevich, when can the Germans transport their arms across the border?" Ulyanov asked.

"It's agreed that one hand will hand over the gold and the other hand will transport the arms. If the first batch of gold can be fully delivered, [-] prisoners of war and those arms can be transported across the border within a week! Vladimir Ilyich." Chicherin smiled. Answer, the atmosphere in the entire meeting room has eased a lot at the moment, and the achievements of the Foreign Affairs People's Committee have obviously won the approval of the central committee members present.

At least, both Trotsky and Sverdlov nodded slightly, and Comrade Ulyanov's eyes did not hide his approval.

"Gregory Yevseyevich, go back and go to the People's Commissar of Finance Stepanov with Chicherin. This gold must be collected as soon as possible. Comrade Dzerzhinsky's Cheka can play It has a huge effect, and we don’t need to be soft on our enemies. In Petersburg and Moscow, there should be many properties left by nobles and big bourgeoisie. Bring it back to Germany!" Ulyanov turned to Zinoviev.

"Okay, this matter is over, what's the next agenda?" Ulyanov turned his head and asked the meeting host Sverdlov on the left.

"It's up to you to report on the situation and diplomatic strategy... Vladimir Ilyich" Sverdlov whispered.

"Uh, yes, it's time for me to say, well, comrades, the situation is very serious, but the more serious the situation, it means that the dawn is ahead, and we are not far from victory. What is this called? Yes, It's the darkness before dawn!" Ulyanov said about rising, and he got off his chair and stood up, with one hand on his hips and the other waving forward, entering the well-known speech state!