And now Lenin's foreign policy is showing "extraordinary results", albeit in the same way as the "Peace of Brest", somewhat beyond the expectations of Comrade Lenin.

"Comrade Lenin, we have just received a report from the command of the Eastern Front at the front...... "A Kremlin functionary handed Lenin a report that had just arrived from outside.

Hearing the words of the staff, Lenin's heart could not help throbbing, and even the wound with the gunshot wound became uncomfortable.

On January 14, 1918, after Lenin had completed a speech in Petrograd, he met with the Swiss Society of Fritz? Platin was riding in a car together, and as he was crossing a bridge, he was suddenly hit by heavy fire from 12 unidentified gunmen. Platin hurriedly pressed Lenin's head under his seat, while his own hand covering Lenin was beaten to blood. After the fact, the personnel of the "Cheka" failed to capture the shooter and failed to identify the killer. But later the expatriate assassins revealed that it was Duke Shakovsky who organized the operation, and that he had sponsored 500,000 rubles for the operation.

One of the deadliest assassinations occurred on August 30, 1918, when a woman stepped into a car after Lenin had given a speech to workers at the Mikhelson factory outside Moscow, and as Lenin answered her, a hand holding a Browning pistol reached out at close range three paces, followed by three gunshots. The first bullet hit Lenin in the left shoulder, the second hit him in the left chest and through the neck, and the third hit the woman who was talking to him. Lenin immediately fell unconscious. After regaining consciousness, he refused to go to the hospital for treatment because he thought there might be another assassination waiting for him. Lenin was quickly taken to the Kremlin. Because the location of the second bullet was too dangerous, doctors were unable to remove it. Although the bullet did not pierce the left lung, the situation was still dangerous because the blood flowed into the lung. Doctors advised Lenin to stay in bed, but Lenin continued to work, and many people worried about his health, but Lenin's physical condition miraculously gradually recovered. But the assassination had a serious impact on Lenin's health.

Fanny, the woman who spoke to Lenin in a half-blind way? Kaplan was identified by the "Cheka" as the murderer who shot Lenin. Shortly after the incident, she was arrested by the Cheka, during which Kaplan confessed to the assassination of Lenin, saying that there was no one behind the scenes, and that it was entirely personal, because Lenin dissolved the Constituent Assembly and was a "traitor to the revolution". Kaplan was shot on 3 September and his body was subsequently burned.

Although Lenin had reduced his government much more than before, he still felt that he was becoming more and more tired and susceptible to bad moods.

Lenin noticed that the other members of the Supreme Military Council were looking at him, and in an instant he regained his composure and picked up the report and read it.

Stalin, who sat at the table, watched Lenin's movements closely, trying to judge from the actions of the Supreme Leader of the Soviet Union whether the contents of the report were good news or bad news.

"The [***] team is advancing towards the Central Siberian region." Lenin said in a flat tone, and he quickly read the report and handed it to Trotsky, the "father of the Red Army".

"It's basically no man's land, and the Chinese are wasting their troops." After reading the report, Trotsky smiled contemptuously, "The supreme commander of the squadron is a complete fool. It is no wonder that they have many more troops and weapons than Yue himself, but they have never been able to defeat Yue himself. ”

Listening to Trotsky's words, the expressions on the faces of the other members of the Supreme Military Council became relaxed.

Trotsky was the most prestigious Soviet political axe other than Lenin, and he first served as People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, and later Trotsky was appointed Chairman of the Military Council and People's Commissar of the Army and Navy - Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, responsible for the formation of the Red Army. Military affairs were not as familiar to Trotsky as prisons. Trotsky had no previous experience in military affairs, and he was the best at writing articles and giving speeches, but it was difficult for others to switch from playing with the pen to playing with the gun. But what is surprising is that Trotsky was really very good at getting into the military, and within a year he quickly built up a red army - in the early summer of 1918, the number of the Red Army exceeded 300,000, in the autumn it soared to 800,000, and by the end of the year it quickly exceeded 1 million! However, these Red Army soldiers were all brothers of workers and peasants, and although they were very enthusiastic about the revolution and brave in battle, they had not received systematic military training and could not compare with the enemy's regular army. Trotsky came up with the idea of using some of the Tsarist Russian [***] officers to command and train the Red Army, because they had a lot of experience. At first, many people wondered what Trotsky was doing, because the Tsarist officers were "reactionaries" and could not have agreed to work for the Red Army. But Trotsky had his own means, and he took hostage all the wives and families of these "old military experts", and executed all those who surrendered or defected if they were found! As a result, he gained a large number of "incomparably loyal" military personnel who "did not hesitate to go to war for the revolutionary cause." As a result, the combat effectiveness of the Red Army was rapidly increased. Although it is said that such tactics are detrimental to yin morality, as a revolutionary leader of the "atheist", for the sake of the success of the great cause of the revolution, he cannot care so much......

During the Civil War, Trotsky traveled in various theaters of operation in Russia on armored trains, making unparalleled contributions to the formation and growth of the Red Army, becoming the "sole organizer", "founder of the Red Army", "leader and organizer of the Red Army" on all fronts in the country, and was hailed as the "Red Napoleon" by the outside world.

Although Trotsky was not a professional soldier, his commanding talent and military influence were no less than his revolutionary and political achievements, and no less than any other famous general in the world in the 20th century. He was not only one of the founders of the first socialist state in the history of the world, but also the founder and commander of the first Bolshevik army in the history of the world, and personally commanded this fledgling Red Army to win a war that decided the fate of Russia and even the fate of Europe. If he had not turned the tide at this critical moment, the future of the Soviet Russian regime would have been in dire straits.

Since the most military-savvy people in the Soviet power say so, what reason is there to worry?

"In winter, the cold becomes their enemy." Kamenev also said.

"The scale of the war between China and Ben continues to grow," Trotsky said, "and the deadly threat we face is disappearing little by little, as this report has shown." ”

"But, Comrade Trotsky, if China were to attack us again after defeating us, would we be in even greater danger than we are now?" Stalin calmly put forward his opinion.

"China can't defeat it, and China's economy can't support their army until that day comes." Trotsky glanced at Stalin and said in a tone of great certainty and confidence.

"How do you know for sure? Comrade Trotsky? Stalin asked, somewhat unconvinced.

"The key to determining the outcome of this war between China and Yuben is not on land, but at sea." Trotsky smiled and replied, "But up to now there has not been a single large-scale battle between the Chinese navy and the Chinese navy, do you know why?" Comrade Stalin? ”

Stalin shook his head and did not speak.

"Because the Chinese know that their powerful but expensive warships were bought from the United States, and once these warships are lost, they will never have such a fleet again, so they are not willing to easily put this fleet into a decisive battle." Trotsky said, "The reason why the navy did not take the initiative is because they are at a relative disadvantage, and they are buying time to build new large warships in order to change this unfavorable situation." ”

"The current financial situation of China's political axe can no longer support the operation of the war machine, and Yue Ben is accumulating strength, so there is no possibility for China to defeat Yu Ben." Trotsky continued, "Therefore, the kind of situation you feared would never have arisen. ”

"So, this war would have won the final victory?" Kamenev asked.

"Yes, I said I would have won." "But then," concluded Trotsky, "will be seriously weakened, and there will be no threat to us in the Far East, so what we must do now is to try not to provoke them, and to make them continue to consume each other in this war." ”

Listening to Trotsky's words, the members of the Supreme Military Council relaxed, and even Lenin's brow was relaxed.

At this time, the Supreme Military Council of the Soviet Union was immersed in the atmosphere of optimism brought by Trotsky, and no one could have imagined that the decisive battle at sea, which had not taken place for a long time, had already quietly begun while they were talking.

On the morning of September 17, 1921, the wreckage of a burning warship was everywhere in the waters near the port of Pusan in the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.

Not long ago, a naval battle of no small scale took place here, and the navy lost 1 armored cruiser, 3 light cruisers, 3 destroyers and 7 transport ships, as well as tens of thousands of army soldiers.

The Navy's attempt to break through the blockade and support the Army's forces in Korea was once again blocked by the Chinese Navy.

Although the Kamoto Navy had suffered heavy setbacks and heavy losses so far, the commander of the Kamoto Combined Fleet, Admiral Sotaro Gardenichi, decided to make another attempt to break the current stalemate.

For months, China and Lexon have been engaged at sea, on land, and in the air, creating the current stalemate, and both China and Lexon have begun to feel the lack of ships. With both armies on the Korean Peninsula exhausted, Sotaro Gardeni, believing that the time had come for a decisive battle with the Chinese navy, began an offensive, with his battleships and cruisers (battle cruisers) being the most powerful weapons in the decisive battle.

The first offensive of the Japanese navy was launched on the evening of 12 September, and the Japanese fleet, with the two battleships "Fuso" and "Yamashiro" as the main force, under the leadership of Rear Admiral Asano Masahiro, broke into the waters of southern China and prepared to shell the Chinese defenders in Ningbo with the guns of battleships, but the Japanese fleet was immediately confronted by a Chinese fleet of cruisers and destroyers under the command of Rear Admiral Huang Lunsu.

The two fleets collided in the middle of the night, and a scuffle ensued, with battleships and destroyers exchanging fire as never before. Two hours later, both sides withdrew from the battlefield, and both sides suffered heavy losses, with Major General Huang Lunsu killed and Major General Asano seriously wounded. The cautious Rear Admiral Masaki Asano gave up the task of shelling the harbor before he passed out and retreated, and even then he completely crushed the Chinese fleet.

This was the first victory won by the navy since the beginning of the war, and it boosted the morale of the navy, so it can be said that it was of great significance. Admiral Shotaro Gardeni then ordered Vice Admiral Kimura's fleet to escort a convoy of 18,000 Japanese troops to the Korean Peninsula, and he subsequently appointed Vice Admiral Yasujiro Nagata to replace Rear Admiral Asano Masahiro, who had been seriously wounded in the naval battle and was disabled for life, and asked him to command the reorganized fleet to return to the waters controlled by the Chinese Navy.

Vice Admiral Yasujiro Nagata is generally considered to be more capable than Asano Masahiro, and he is considered a "British-style naval officer", with a very gentlemanly demeanor, and works fairly well with his staff group, but he performs better in training than in actual combat. At the time, however, Asano was a relatively young and enterprising of the admirals to choose from, and Nagata was considered the best candidate to succeed him. So Admiral Sotaro Gardenichi appointed him commander and reinforced him with an additional fleet, including an old battleship, two armored cruisers, two light cruisers, and six destroyers, for escort duties. The task of the entire artillery fleet was simple: to break into the bay of Pusan on the night of the 16th, sweep away the Chinese ships there carrying out the blockade mission, destroy them by artillery bombardment, cover the entry of the transport fleet, and then withdraw from the battle before dawn on the 17th.

Admiral Lan Jianshu, commander of the Second Combat Fleet of the Chinese Navy, was a very brave naval soldier, and unlike the Navy, which had suffered serious blood loss, he had a large number of combat ships available for deployment, and after learning the news of the dispatch of the Navy, he ordered all the battleships, battlecruisers, cruisers, and destroyers to complete preparations for the decisive battle by the 14th, and he would ship two "Republican" class battleshipsThe "Republic" and "Mingzhuo" remained in Ludagang, and it was decided to send the two new battle cruisers "Victory" and "Minquan" in their hands to carry out this combat mission. Although the textbooks of the U.S. Naval Academy explicitly prohibit the use of battleships and battlecruisers in narrow seas, especially waters like Pusan Bay, Lan Jianshu knew that naval battles could only be won at sea, not in textbooks, so he ordered the two giant ships to take the initiative.

The commander of the two giant ships was Vice Admiral Li Jingxi, a Chinese vice admiral who always wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, whose surname was approachable and an expert in gunnery. He usually relieves his stress in two ways: he reads traditional Chinese classical novels on the bridge, or he plays chess with the sailors on duty or gossips about sea rumors.

Vice Admiral Li Jingxi is a rather diligent man, and he once worked with the acting captain of the "Victory", the American Larry? Admiral Scott and the gunnery and technical officers discussed the question of artillery fire for several nights from the point of view of theoretical calculations. In terms of actual operation, Li Jingxi continued to train the artillery crew, including repeated shooting exercises in various situations that might arise in various operations, such as the temporary shortage of personnel.

The technical data of the battlecruisers "Victory" and "Civil Rights" can be described as quite outstanding: a full load displacement of 55200 tons, a speed of 34 knots, 406 mm guns. But the Victory, in addition to having a brave acting captain Scott on campus, was considered a lucky battleship. Because as the name suggests, as long as the "Victory" is dispatched, the battle will be very smooth. Of course, the Minquan was also a smooth-running warship, with few glitches and the most advanced radio-to-sea search equipment of the time—the idea of which came from the young founder of the Chinese Navy, and the Topol laboratory, a subsidiary of Renhe Corporation, was turned into a reality and used for testing on this powerful warship.

The two battle cruisers set sail on September 15 and were ordered by Lan Jianshu to go to the Korean Peninsula. At 8:30 a.m., the command to "anchor and sail" was heard from the loudspeaker of the "Victory". The huge battleship was taken out of the harbor by a tugboat and set off. At noon, Lan Jianshu ordered Li Jingxi to form the Second Assault Task Force with two battle cruisers, four light cruisers, and six destroyers, under the command of Li Jingxi, and sail west at the highest speed. At this time, the officers and men of the "Victory" and the "Civil Rights" were very excited, both officers and sailors, they knew that they could go to the front, and the depression of the past few months was swept away, and they were all holding back their strength and preparing for a big battle with the enemy.

The "Victory" and "Civil Rights" accelerated to 30 knots at sea, and the navigator set the course and pointed due west. Vice Admiral Li Jingxi made a nautical calculation in the bridge, and then sent a telegram to Lan Jianshu, reporting that his fleet would not be in position until eight o'clock in the morning of the 16th.

After dinner, Li Jingxi and Captain Scott called a meeting of the ship's officers, at which Li Jingxi talked about various situations: shooting, damage management, rudder, and even how to deliver food to the crew who were on first level alert. Scott and his Chinese lieutenant were very concerned about maneuvering in the narrow bay, but the navigator was calm and confident, indicating that they were sure to complete the maneuver.

(To be continued)