Although Denikin is full of confidence in the future and is determined to do a big job, he is not the kind of fool who has no boundaries and doesn't remember how old he is. While full of hope for a better future, he also has a clear understanding of the cruelty of reality.

It should be said that Kornilov's despair and depression are not completely without reason, even if the future may be beautiful, the reality in front of him is that it is difficult for a good woman to cook without rice. After escaping from the base camp, they gathered a small remnant of the army and fled to the Don Valley.

That's right, it's a wandering, he and Kornilov are almost like lost dogs in hiding, if it weren't for the fact that the prestige of the Bolsheviks has not been fully established, if it weren't for the chaos in the whole of Russia, they really don't have a place to settle down.

In the past few months, I have been so miserable, there is no food, so I can only go out to rob it, but the common people in Russia are not rich, and the little food they have robbed is not enough to drink porridge. Especially after entering the cold winter, all aspects of clothing, food, housing and transportation are problems. Fortunately, they still have some men and weapons, and after helping the local landlord Lao Cai quell the mud-legged riot, they finally have a foothold, otherwise they would have to freeze to death.

However, such a long time is not a long-term solution, Denikin knew very well that such a life was not only unpleasant, but also very dangerous, if he could not gain momentum to overthrow the Bolsheviks, once the Bolsheviks completely controlled the situation in the country, they would definitely be cut off mercilessly.

So, these days, Denikin has been preparing. He actively contacted the remnants of Karekin. Gather as many people as possible. Collect weapons and ammunition by all means, and secretly connect with foreign forces.

However, efforts are hard work, but the results of these efforts are not obvious, Karekin's troops were completely frightened by Frunze, and these people became frightened birds, most of them were watching the situation and were not ready to actively respond to Denikin's call. Even these people are more concerned about food and housing, and only care about robbing homes and robbing houses to grab a little money. I don't care about lofty ideals and beautiful blueprints at all.

Anyway, Denikin was so disappointed in this gang of goods, if he didn't have the strength to do it, he would definitely have caught all these rat-eyed guys and hung them on a telephone pole.

After this series of setbacks, Denikin had to endure for the time being, and he did not want to waste his energy on other fools, and now he put all his hopes on the Entente, counting on them to make an early decision to intervene in Russia.

Not long after Denikin returned to his tent, the herald hurriedly found him. "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, the Commander-in-Chief asked you to hurry up to his meeting!"

Denikin was somewhat surprised. He had just returned from Kornilov, and if that lifeless thing was going to have a meeting, he had just told him that he would have to do it, so why wait for him to come back.

To be honest, Denikin is also a little annoyed, every day is bad news, no matter how determined he is, he can't stand this toss. He asked impatiently, "What meeting?" ”

The herald actually didn't want to come, on this cold day, he couldn't eat enough, who didn't want to roast and nap, who wanted to pass on the bird order, and who had to look at the stinky faces of several commanders?

He replied somewhat perfunctorily: "The commander didn't say anything, he just told you to hurry up!" After saying that, the goods simply saluted casually, and then staggered away.

The attitude of the heralds Denikin is too lazy to care, there has been more than one incident of mutiny and escape of soldiers these days, and he knows exactly what these big-headed soldiers are thinking. The current situation is that it is no longer possible to restore the majesty of the commander by just talking about it, and it is necessary to come up with tangible things, such as feeding and cloning the bunch of goods, in order to restore their morale and confidence.

In this case, teaching this herald will be of no use at all, and will only make the other soldiers resentful of you even more. Besides, if you deal with an idiot soldier, he, a lieutenant general, will not lose his position.

Of course, not caring doesn't mean not caring, not caring is completely forced to be helpless, Denikin's choice is to write down this account and calculate it slowly after the autumn. Moreover, he complained even more about what Kornilov was suddenly going to do, and in a sarcastic and sarcastic tone, he said to his lieutenant: "It's really strange that it's been a month since I fell into this hellish place where birds don't. For the past month, I thought that our commander had completely forgotten his duties...... No meeting in the morning. I don't have a meeting at night, but when I want to catch my breath, I will have a meeting, and he will really choose the time! ”

Speaking of this, he suddenly asked, "You say, what meeting does he want to have?" Gang meeting? ”

Complaining is complaining, Denikin is still going to this meeting, and he has thought about it all the way, if Kornilov really intends to break up, then he must stop the fool, he will not give up halfway.

However, to Denikin's surprise, when he walked into Kornilov's tent again, he saw two unexpected visitors, one was Alekseev, who had succeeded Kornilov in October, and the other was a thin mustache that he did not recognize.

But it was enough for Denikin to recognize Alekseevich, who had lost contact with Alekseevich since the fall of him and Kornilov in September, and suddenly this old boy came out of nowhere, and if nothing big happened, he would not believe it.

While Denikin was thinking about it, Kornilov was greeting Alekseevich very boldly, just from this moment, it was completely impossible to see that the commander-in-chief was still a dead face before. Now he has a sense of returning to the light, and that kind of exuberance makes Denikin as sick as a fly.

Kornilov, who was a hindsight, noticed that Denikin had come in, and he greeted him with great joy: "Anton, our old friend has great news!" ”

Good news? Denikin was a little suspicious, to be honest, he had not heard any good news since September 1917, but bad news came and went, and he wondered if Kornilov had been fooled by Alekseev.

As far as Denikin knows, Alekseev has not had a good time these months either. He was pro-Socialist-Revolutionary. After the October Revolution. There will certainly be no good fruit to eat. Denikin wondered if he had taken a fancy to their team and was preparing to have an empty glove white wolf?

This suspicion is well founded, and it is important to know that in the events of last September, Kornilov and the Socialist-Revolutionaries had a very unpleasant quarrel, and the two sides almost completely tore their faces. In this case. Even with good news, the Socialist-Revolutionaries will not be cheap Kornilov. If something goes wrong, it is a demon, and Denikin is not a heartless person like Kornilov, so he immediately raised his vigilance and asked quietly:

"What's the good news?"

"Our allies can no longer sit idly by and watch the Bolshevik rebellion, they have come to an agreement that the Bolsheviks must be dealt with immediately, their perverse behavior must be corrected, and Russia will be put back on the right track!" ”

Denikin was shocked at such a big news. The spies he sent to contact and listen to information did not come back, but the uninvited guest Alekseev came to the door first. What does this mean?

This shows that even if the Entente group had moved, it might have been done in secret, and the Social Revolutionaries had probably reached an agreement with the Entente group in the first place!

For Denikin, this was really not good news, and if the Entente was ready to support the Socialist-Revolutionaries and to nurture them, then it was clear that Kornilov's political role would be greatly diminished. If they are not ready to play the card of Kornilov, then everything he has been actively preparing before seems to be meaningless.

Looking at Kornilov's stupid heartless laughter, Denikin's heart was like knocking over a five-flavor bottle, he really wanted to grab Kornilov's shirt and smack this thing a few mouths, are you really stupid or fake stupid, can you use your brain to think about it, is this news really good news for you!

Unfortunately, Kornilov was completely unaware of this, he thought that Denikin's hair was just too happy, just like him before, he was stunned by this great news, and he couldn't wait to explain the current situation to Denikin:

"Anton, our allies have made a decision to overthrow Soviet power, they have made contact with Mr. Savinkov and will finance those of us who are really fighting for the defense of Russia......"

The more he talked about Kornilov, the more excited he became, to the point that he was a little incoherent, but the more Denikin listened to it, the more unpleasant it became, and all kinds of circumstances showed that the Entente had indeed reached an agreement with the Social Revolutionaries, which meant that Kornilov seemed to have become a dispensable person, and that he should also do more.

Kornilov, however, remained unaware of this, and continued to gush: "Our allies have come to an agreement with the Czechoslovak Legion, and these valiant Czechs will fire the first shot against the Bolsheviks...... Great, I have long known that there are axioms in this world...... Look, even the Czechs knew that the Bolsheviks were doing perverse acts, which shows how unpopular they were...... I believe that as long as we are united, we will be able to fight the Bolsheviks...... God, I'm so happy, so excited! ”

Denikin was getting more and more impatient, completely scoffing at this nonsense, and he wanted to know Alekseev's intentions, it was unlikely that this thing had just come to tell them the news, right?

Denikin clearly realized that Alekseev's intention was not simple, and the reason why he, or the Social Revolutionaries, came to Kornilov was probably because they wanted to do something with it...... So what is there to take advantage of in Kornilov?

This question was not difficult for Denikin to answer at all, the only useful thing about Kornilov was his prestige in the army, and a considerable number of officers had a favorable opinion of the former commander-in-chief, and if he could raise his arms, he should be able to lead a large number of officers. Now the situation in Russia is obvious, whoever has the barrel of a gun has a say.

Sure enough, as soon as Kornilov's speech ended, Alekseev eagerly echoed: "Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief is right, we can defeat the Bolsheviks only if we are reunited...... We also deeply believe that as long as His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief can take the lead, he will be able to respond to every call. This is coupled with the efforts of the leaders of the political parties and the support of the allies. The elimination of the Bolsheviks will be a breeze. Haha......ha

Denikin didn't laugh, because the other party's intention was exactly the same as his guess, and the Social Revolutionaries were probably ready to use Kornilov's influence again, but this gang probably didn't want to give Kornilov actual power, so they really planned to empty the gloves of the white wolf.

Similar to Denikin's speculation, Alekseev continued with a dance: "Once the uprising is well underway, we will first establish a new provisional government in Ufa, which will replace the Soviet power as the real legitimate government of Russia." When the time comes, the Constituent Assembly will be reconvened, the traitorous Brest Pact will be annulled, and we will take up arms again and fight the Germans again until we win the great war! ”

Alekseev's impassioned tone made Kornilov excited, and he was so excited that his brain began to glow, if it wasn't for Denikin speaking first, he would have been ready to follow Alekseev's thinking completely, ready to go to how to celebrate after the Y victory.

I saw Denikin say calmly: "It's too far to say these things now." We have not yet achieved victory, and I would like to know the specifics of the uprising. Or rather, what do you need us to do? ”

Alekseev glanced at Denikin, and seemed a little strange how this guy could be so calm, but he didn't take it too seriously, thinking that this was Denikin's temper, and he introduced with great interest: "You are right, the most important thing now is how to carry out the uprising...... Our plan is this, first of all, the Czech Corps will rise up and open up the situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk directions, and what His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief and the troops led by you need to do is to actively cooperate and respond, seize Tsaritsyn, take control of this granary in the south, and then ......"

Without waiting for Alekseev to finish speaking, Denikin directly interrupted him and said very unceremoniously: "Your Excellency, your plan seems to me a little whimsical, not to mention the limited number of Czech legions, whether it can open up the situation in the direction of Donetsk and Luhansk, let's just say that the importance of capturing Tsaritsyn, this city The Bolsheviks are very clear, with our current strength, it is impossible to seize there at all, you are not polite, you are letting us go to death!" ”

Alekseev was a little embarrassed, but he quickly covered it up, and calmly introduced to Denikin: "Of course I know the importance of Tsaritsyn, and I am afraid that it will be a great price to take it." But you have to see that as soon as we seize Tsaritsyn, the whole of southern Ukraine, including the Crimean Peninsula, will become our consolidated rear, and from here we will completely cut off the Bolshevik food supply routes, without which it is only a matter of time before the Bolsheviks are finished! ”

Denikin was still unmoved, and said coldly: "These are still nonsense, everyone knows the benefits of seizing Tsaritsyn, the problem is that we don't have the strength to seize it, this is the most critical problem!" ”

Seeing that Kornilov also frowned, as if moved by Denikin's warning, Alekseev hurriedly said: "If this is all you are worried about, then I must say that it is not a problem at all," he said, pointing to the thin mustache who had been standing beside him without speaking, and said: "Peter. Nikolaevich. The troops under Lieutenant General Flagel will cooperate with you in the capture of Tsaritsyn......"

At this time, Denikin paid attention to Wrangel, and he had also heard of the name of this mustache, which was of noble origin, had the name of a baron, participated in the Russo-Japanese War, and had reached the rank of lieutenant general in World War I. However, on the whole, the command talent of this goods is very mediocre, and it has not achieved any dazzling feats. And it is said that this product has a very brutal character, and treats soldiers and captives like a devil.

Anyway, Denikin's first impression of this product was not too good, and he thought that this product was too gloomy, but this reason could not convince Kornilov, and he asked directly: "So how many troops does General Wrangel have?" ”

Alekseev showed an embarrassed expression, as the Bolsheviks gained a foothold, the generals who supported the continuation of the war suffered a major blow, Wrangel also fled in a hurry after the October Revolution, and in the direction of the Crimea, he hastily organized a volunteer army of more than 1,000 people, and this army was desperately short of weapons and ammunition. How does this make him introduce?

Wrangel generously admitted his lack of strength: "My army is limited in number, and there are not enough weapons and ammunition, but my lads are complete patriots, and they hate the Bolsheviks to the core, and their fighting zeal is very high, which will greatly compensate for the lack of other aspects!" ”

Denikin didn't speak, he just gave Kornilov a look, to tell the truth, he was not optimistic about this operation, and to fight Tsaritsyn with this point, it was like a meat bun beating a dog.

In fact, Kornilov was also aware of this, so the excitement and high spirits just now disappeared from him in an instant, and he seemed to return to his previous state of pessimism and depression.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Alekseev hurriedly said: "Actually, I think that Tsaritsyn is not so difficult to fight, when the Czech Legion revolts, the main forces and main attention of the Bolsheviks will be focused on them, there will be no heavy troops in the Tsaritsyn direction, and they will never think that we have an army in ambush in the Crimean direction, as long as we can achieve suddenness, it will definitely not be a big problem to take Tsaritsyn!" (To be continued......)

PS: The third bow thanks to Comrade hzwangdd, it's so powerful!