On the outskirts of Tsaritsyn.

Denikin stared at the map on his desk, his face gloomy enough to squeeze water. The reason is that he has received too much bad news in recent times, Kolchak was beaten to the ground in Kazan, and was chased by Tukhachevsky to Ufa.

Denikin originally thought that Kolchak would be able to block the attack of the Red Bandits in his hometown and base camp, but who would have thought that Blyukhel would suddenly stab him in the back, and after a battle, almost all of Kolchak's previous amazing army scattered and fled.

Had it not been for the fact that Blyukhel's forces were too small to completely close the encirclement, the Russian Supreme Regent and his cabinet and ministers would have become prisoners of the Red Army. However, even if Kolchak escaped, the rest of the life was not easy, and the soldiers were disappointed in him, and the Social Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, who had been so badly suppressed by him, also took the opportunity to fight back. Fortunately, Kolchak also had the support of the Entente, otherwise Denikin doubted that he would have been cut into pieces by angry soldiers, aristocrats, and exiled capitalists and clergy.

Of course, Kolchak's life or death Denikin did not care, and the more clumsy the pretentious and fearless admiral became, the better it would be for Denikin. In that way, everyone in the world can see who is the true son of Russia and who can lead Russia out of the predicament.

However, what Denikin did not expect at all was that the defeat of this fearless general turned out to be bottomless, when he dragged his family and led hundreds of thousands of wolves to the Far East, when Ufa and Chelyabinsk fell one after another, Denikin knew that something was wrong!

The Red Army, which basically drove out Kolchak, soon turned its attention to his side. With Orenburg again "fell". The connection between him and Kolchak was essentially severed. As you can imagine. The Red Bandit Eastern Front to the north would soon move south, encircle him from the flanks and rear, and soon annihilate him east of the Volga.

The shape that Denikin had to face was quite severe, Tsaritsyn could not be taken alive or dead, and as the Southwestern Front began to counterattack, his troops were squeezed out of Tsaritsyn little by little, and now the back road was cut off again, if he did not hurry up and find a way to get out of the predicament. I'm afraid it's going to be doomed.

And now Denikin's headache is how to get out of the predicament, taking advantage of the Eastern Front's unstable foothold in Orenburg, he hurriedly rushed through Tsaritsyn, joined up with Kolchak, and then sought to make a comeback. Or simply ignore Kolchak and go directly to the south, develop in the direction of the Black Sea and the Caucasus, and wait for the assistance of the Entente?

It should be said that both roads have advantages and disadvantages, and they develop to the east. Rendezvous with Kolchak is better than safety. In the Far East, there was a vacuum in the power of the Bolsheviks. It was a great rendezvous with the Japanese and American expeditionary forces advancing toward Siberia.

However, Denikin thought far ahead, and although it was comfortable to go east, it was also quite a problem. Although the Bolsheviks in the Far East were poorly populated, the population base and the industry and agriculture were quite poor. Without foreign assistance, going to the Far East would be a dead end.

Of course, the Entente did agree to aid, but the problem was that they trusted and appreciated Kolchak more, and the premise of receiving their aid was to accept the command of Kolchak, an idiot. The ambitious Denikin did not want to continue to be at the mercy of Kolchak as a layman. In Denikin's view, his political and military capabilities were a complete mess, and to hand over power to him was to be irresponsible for the future of Russia.

And to tell the truth, Denikin was also wary of the Entente, and he could guess a thing or two about the idea of this group of people. And he did not intend to be a spokesman and puppet of a foreign power, and as a hardcore nationalist, he attached great importance to Russia's independence and autonomy. And going to the Far East basically means that all independence and autonomy will come to naught, and I am afraid that he will only be a dog in the future.

Denikin naturally did not want to be a dog, so he preferred the latter option, marching to the Black Sea coast and the Caucasus, and if he was in a good mood, he would seize the Caucasus as a base and continue to fight the Red Bandits with Turkey and the Black Sea.

The advantage of this plan was that he did not have to travel long distances, and he did not have to continue to look at Kolchak's face, and it was closer to the inner core of Russia, which made it easier for him to carry out the anti-communist restoration campaign. In addition, the proximity to the Black Sea coast and Turkey's ability to receive support from the Entente made the Caucasus a better choice than the remote and inhospitable Siberia.

However, the danger of this plan is quite high, first of all, the Caucasus is now the territory of the Bolsheviks, and Budyonny and his cavalry basically defeated the relatively large local White Army organization before going north, and if they want to gain a foothold in the Caucasus, they have to fight with a knife and a gun. Moreover, there was little room for maneuver in the Caucasus, and when the Red Bandits' Southwestern Front and Eastern Front pressed over with the overwhelming force of Mount Tai, Denikin was really not sure that he would be able to repel them.

All in all, Denikin was a little hesitant and didn't know what to do.

"Your Excellency, we can't hesitate any longer, we must make a choice whether we go south or east!"

Looking at Wrangel, Denikin was a little unhappy, he was very uninterested in this murderous baron, if the Russian problem could be solved only by massacre, then he would have solved the trouble a long time ago. Why be so passive?

Indeed, compared with Wrangel, Denikin is more "conscious" and "idealistic", and Wrangel's methods are more cruel and direct than Wrangel. All in all, both sides are a little bit dislike each other's style of doing things.

Denikin, for example, did not appreciate Wrangel's efforts to condone the robbery of soldiers, the forcible work of women, and the torture of prisoners, and thought that the man was a butcher; Wrangel, on the other hand, felt that there was no robbery. Where did the strong girl get the military resources, morale and military spirit? If you don't give the red bandits a little color, and don't use extreme means to deter them, how can they surrender?

For another example, for the current predicament, Wrangel feels that there is no need to think about so many twists and turns, whether it is eastward or southward, the important thing is to act quickly, otherwise it will be too late.

Denikin was not an indecisive man. On the contrary, he was resolute. But this time the choice is very unusual. In his opinion, once the decision has been made. The fate of Russia was decided, and he must be responsible for the fate of Russia and the White Army, and he must not be hasty.

In this way, the contradiction between him and Wrangel has been intensified, and if it weren't for the fact that the enemy can't openly turn his face at the moment, the two sides might have already faced each other.

"Gentlemen, I think the question now is not just whether to go south or east," a childish voice interjected just as Denikin and Wrangel were about to curse each other. Aleksandrovich, who served as the chief of staff of the empty head, said seriously: "I don't know much about military issues, but I only know one thing, no matter what choice we make, the first thing is secrecy!" ”

"What do you mean?" Denikin asked, somewhat puzzled.

Aleksandrovich explained: "The situation we are facing is quite critical, and if our plans are detected by the Red Bandits, it is quite possible that they will take targeted measures against us. ”

The corners of Denikin's mouth twitched, still not understanding what the little nobleman was trying to say.

"I mean, there are spies of red bandits among us, and all military operations must be kept strictly secret!" Aleksandrovich explained in a serious manner.

Denikin became more and more speechless, and the composition of the White Army was quite complex. It was almost inevitable that it would be infiltrated by the Bolsheviks, so it was somewhat nonsense to emphasize secrecy. Because it is completely impossible to achieve true absolute secrecy. So he didn't understand what Alexander was trying to say.

"Do you have to say it?" Aleksandrovich snorted contemptuously. "Of course, complete secrecy in the absolute sense is impossible, but we can't ignore the Red Army spies among our senior generals, right?"

"You're accusing you?" Denikin frowned.

"I'm just in case!" Aleksandrovich replied with an oath.

Denikin asked nonchalantly, "Who is the case?" ”

"Of course it's Mironov, this guy is too suspicious!"

Hearing the name Mironov, Denikin was a little surprised, although Mironov's guy was a little troublesome, he didn't think Mironov was suspicious, if he was a spy of the Red Army, there was no need to mention so many snake-drawn buildings, shouldn't the spies cater to them?

"I don't think so." Aleksandrovich replied confidently, "It may be easier for ordinary spies to pander to us and curry favor with us to break into our interior." But if a high-ranking spy like Mironov wants to gain our trust completely, he must be different, and he must come up with some suggestions that seem to be what he wants. As he spoke, he glanced at Denikin and said, "I have to say, he was very successful in disguise!" ”

The corners of Denikin's mouth twitched, he didn't expect Aleksandrovich to say such a thing, you say he has a point, and there is no evidence at all, and it is completely plausible; But if you want to say that he is not right, it seems like that again.

"So what do you think we should do? Arrest him, execute him? Denikin asked, somewhat unhappily.

Before Aleksandrovich could answer, Wrangel rushed to answer: "Why not?" He said with a look of disdain: "The Red Bandits are all devils, this Mironov has joined the Red Bandits, is a member of the Devil, and it is he who led the Czech Legion to almost all annihilation." It makes sense to put him to death! ”

Wrangel didn't like Mironov, not only because Mironov had inflicted heavy losses on the Czech Legion, but more importantly, he had always picked his nose and eyes at him, strongly denouncing him for his military corruption and being a murderer.

To be honest, Wrangel had long wanted to give him a little color, and it just so happened that today Aleksandrovich opened this opening, and it would be a pity not to take advantage of it.

"That was the old days," said Denikin impatiently, "and he was so deluded by the bandits that it was understandable that he would make the wrong moves. Now that he has repented, there is no reason to doubt him without any evidence! ”

"How can it be unfounded!" Wrangel was upset.

Denikin patiently asked, "Where is the evidence?" ”

"He used to be a red bandit, and he also received the Red Flag Medal and some revolutionary commemorative weapon awarded by the red bandits, which fully shows that he is a hardcore red bandit. How could the hardcore red bandits wake up, and how could they surrender to us when our situation was not particularly good? Obviously, he is a spy. It's here to spy on our military intelligence! ”

Denikin was speechless to the extreme. What bullshit evidence is these? It's all speculation! So he had to emphasize: "This is just your guess and estimate. We can't act rashly without real and reliable evidence! ”

Wrangel is on fire, in his opinion Denikin is simply inexplicable, isn't he just a red bandit who surrendered? What about killing? It's not worth mentioning at all! In his opinion, there is only one reason why Denikin disagrees - that is, to deliberately suppress him, that is, to refute his face!

This is not the first time Wrangel feels that Denikin deliberately did not give him face and deliberately suppressed him. Denikin would not happily agree to every suggestion he had proposed before, and he constantly accused him of being too cruel. Let's be honest. Wrangel has had enough!

"I strongly urge prevention before it happens!" Wrangel slapped the table hard and said angrily.

Denikin wondered, he didn't understand what kind of medicine Wrangel had taken, why did he always have trouble with Mironov? In his opinion, killing people indiscriminately without evidence, especially killing a recipient of the Red Army's Red Banner Medal who had just surrendered, was too bad. Killed Mironov indiscriminately, who else in the Red Army would dare to take refuge in him in the future?

Denikin wants to do big things, how can a man with big ambitions let a butcher like Wrangel spoil his big things?

So he glared at Wrangel as well. He retorted stubbornly: "Without evidence, you can't kill people indiscriminately!" ”

Facing a tough Denikin. Wrangel could only walk away, but everyone could see that the butcher was already angry, and the relationship between him and Denikin had fallen to a freezing point. Even as long as there is only one Mars, the contradictions between them will erupt.

Aleksandrovich admired a certain immortal thousands of kilometers away more and more, and when he was sent to go undercover, Li Xiaofeng specially explained that the relationship between Denikin and Wrangel is very bad, if possible, please try to intensify the contradictions between them, which is of great significance for us to put down the rebellion!

Now, Aleksandrovich saw the importance of what a certain immortal said, and the topic of this military conference was supposed to discuss the question of whether to go east or south, but as he interjected, the meeting was stirred up. No conclusions were drawn that Denikin's troops would remain on the eastern bank of the Volga if the Southwestern Front could seize this opportunity...... In an instant, Aleksandrovich's heart was on fire, he saw the significance of his actions, and suddenly became more active.

And Mironov soon learned about the controversy about him at the military conference, and immediately became under a lot of pressure. Although Denikin vetoed Wrangel's request in a strong way, he also had a strong sense of crisis. Wrangel had unmistakably expressed his murderous intent, and he had to be on guard against it.

But how to prevent it?

Mironov was at a loss for what to do about this issue, and from then on shut up, never mentioning the construction of the yì again, and never caring about the rotten things of Wrangel's troops? It would have saved his life, but if he did, he wouldn't have been Mironov.

While Mironov was thinking hard about countermeasures, Denikin hesitated, and the information that he did not know whether to advance east or south was fed back to the headquarters of the Southwestern Front, and Tukhachevsky reacted categorically, and the counterattack that had been slowly swallowed like warm water suddenly became violent.

In Saratov, the Southwestern Front made a decisive attack and took Denikin by surprise, and the Red Army forced its way across the Volga and captured Pokrovsk on the opposite bank of Saratov in one fell swoop, and began to threaten the line of communication between the Urals and Tsaritsyn.

This move is indeed too ruthless, if the connection between the Urals and Tsaritsyn is severed, then Denikin's White Army will be divided and surrounded!

Faced with this extremely unfavorable situation, Denikin had to convene a military conference again, not that he was prepared to continue to discuss the question of whether to go east or south, because Tukhachevsky had already made up his mind for him, and he decided to go south, and the military conference was mainly to discuss a concrete course of action.

But what Denikin didn't expect was that the military conference had just begun, and before he could get to the point, Wrangel disrupted his rhythm.

"Our shape is quite unfavorable, the Red Army may divide and encircle us at any time, and the important reason for the current passivity is the indecision of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief!"

Denikin's face was very ugly, staring at Wrangel gloomily, who gave this thing such a big courage to shoot at him directly?

Wrangel glanced at Denikin with some smugness, and he saw the other party's face so real that it could make this old stubborn unhappy, which made him feel quite happy. And there were more than so many shells for him, and without waiting for Denikin to speak, he continued: "It's not just a matter of indecision, but more importantly, your indulgence has led us to be infiltrated by the Red Bandits, so that they know our secrets well!" ”

Denikin's beard trembled, and he finally spoke: "What do you mean by that?" Are you accusing me? ”

Wrangel sneered: "I'm just doing my duty as a patriot, just telling the truth!" After a slight pause, Wrangel sneered: "I strongly demand that this series of mistakes be corrected!" ”

Denikin looked at him coldly and asked gloomily, "Correction?" ”

"Yes!" Wrangel puffed up his chest and said categorically: "It's to correct mistakes, first of all, we should take immediate action to get rid of the current passive situation, and secondly, we should immediately carry out a major internal purge to eradicate all those red bandits!" (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you Comrade Juventus!