In late July 1934, when the Leningrad White Nights Festival was at its climax, a conspiracy was in full swing. Important figures involved in the conspiracy included Stalin, Sverdlov, Li Xiaofeng, Mikoyan, and Zhdanov.

This incident, which came to be known as the White Nights Incident, dramatically changed the map of the Soviet Union after 1935. Trotsky suffered heavy losses in this event, depriving him of his foothold in the Military Commission.

The incident has to start with a cruiser, this is the famous cruiser Aurora, because of the prominence in the October Revolution, even if this old cruiser has been withdrawn from the front line since 1923 and is only used as a naval training ship, but the Aurora has a great symbolic meaning, almost a symbol of the Red Navy.

In July of that year, the cadets of the Red Navy Command Academy, which had just finished their summer training at sea, were able to dock to rest and relax their nerves during the festival. What these young students didn't expect was that their recuperation kicked off the beginning of a series of events.

For the Navy, the two most important parts of life were alcohol and women, and the cadets, who had just finished their voyages, plunged headlong into the bars and theaters to regain their energy with the help of alcohol and Russian beauties. I have to say that the lads in the Navy have a lot of fun, and there are a lot of things that naturally go out of the ordinary.

At the same time, a group of young officers, most of whom were junior and junior officers of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Corps of the Red Army, had just finished participating in the Northern 1934 exercises. They had just completed their participation in the Northern 1934 exercises, which were personally organized and organized by Chief of the General Staff Tukhachevsky, and they received a high commendation from Tukhachevsky, and as the backbone personnel of the Red Army's mechanized construction, they had every reason to be proud and proud.

This group of young officers entered Leningrad with great interest. Talking about the future with great interest. Obviously. As seed officers of the mechanized troops trained by Tukhachevsky, their future is limitless.

If nothing else, in ten years, they can become regiment commanders, brigade commanders and even division and army commanders. This joy deeply stimulated the group of young people, and they were almost indulgent in their excitement.

The future naval officer, who had just finished a long voyage and was drunk, ran into a group of protégés of the army who were carried away by the future, and under the influence of alcohol, a little bit of a small conflict was also greatly magnified. From a simple spat evolved into a bar brawl. Then it evolved into a group fight between the navy and the army, and the scene was very hot for a while.

At first, the Navy suffered a lot of losses, because they came first, drank too much, and certainly were not the opponents of the Army officers, who had not yet been completely paralyzed by alcohol, and after a round of scuffle, the Navy was a little miserable, and almost fled back to the Aurora with its tail between its legs.

However, the matter was not over, and it was both angry and ashamed to learn that the Navy had suffered a loss, and that Leningrad was the base camp of the Baltic Fleet. It is the most important ground of the Navy, and it was bullied by a group of army mud legs on the land of the Navy. How can this be endured? You have to get this field back anyway, don't you?

So all the officers and men of the Aurora immediately organized themselves to take it, and five or six hundred sailors and officers swept away the army mud legs that had taken advantage of them before. beat this group of heavenly pride to the point that he couldn't make a human shape, not to mention missing arms and legs, and his nose and face were swollen, and he would never be able to run away.

It stands to reason that the development of the matter to this point should not be a big deal, it is nothing more than a fight between two groups of young people who drank too much, and this kind of thing often happens in any country. This time the Leningrad outbreak was nothing more than a bit of a large number of people participating, and the impact was a little unsightly. But it's just not good-looking, and afterwards it's nothing more than the navy and army's major fifty boards, and it's over for the people involved in the brawl to write an inspection and confinement.

However, this time, things changed unexpectedly, as mentioned earlier, this batch of officers of the army was a protégé of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Corps who had just participated in the 1934 exercises in the north. At this time, it was Tukhachevsky who was in charge of the mechanization of the Red Army, and the people at the moment reported to him that his protégé of the Son of Heaven was beaten by the crowd and beat him so that he didn't even know his own mother, and Tukhachevsky was immediately furious.

"What's going on? How did the Navy explain? Tukhachevsky asked angrily.

"The Navy thinks it's a simple drunken incident, a skirmish between young people who drank too much."

"Skirmish?" Tukhachevsky snorted heavily and asked rhetorically: "If it was just a skirmish, why are all the officers of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Corps lying in the hospital now?" ”

In fact, this question is a bit biased, the batch of cadets in the Navy is also quite miserable, and there are not a few people who are hospitalized, that is, a little less than the First Mechanized Infantry Army. However, Tukhachevsky has always had a kind of Continental Army mentality, and has always believed that the army is the big brother, and the other navies and air forces have to give way to the big brother. Especially this time it was his protégé who was injured, and his anger was naturally greater, and the Navy and Air Force had made him very uncomfortable in the Military Commission before, and Tukhachevsky did not use this to knock the Navy and Air Force.

"Those naval cadets who caused the accident must be severely punished, and they must be severely punished!" Tukhachevsky was quick to give instructions.

To be honest, this is a bit of a fuss, which was originally just a trifle, and after Tukhachevsky's intervention, the nature is different. The chief of the general staff has spoken, so naturally it is necessary to strictly investigate the responsibility.

In accordance with Tukhachevsky's request, a team to investigate the incident sent by Gamalnik, deputy director of the General Political Department, rushed to Leningrad and quickly ascertained the "truth" -- the navy must bear full responsibility for this, and this group of naval cadets must be severely punished, the lightest of which must be probation, and as for expulsion from the army, it is also necessary to go to military court.

The General Staff is sharpening its knives and preparing to make an example of chickens, but the problem is that the Navy is not a chicken to be slaughtered, on the contrary, the Navy is now very hard in the background. Stalin and Li Xiaofeng were very enthusiastic about naval construction before, and even spared no effort to support the navy. Moreover, this time the navy has already done a good job in punishing the cadets who make mistakes, and in the eyes of the navy, the General Staff and the General Political Department are simply nonsense. It's a communiqué for personal vendetta!

Chief of Naval Operations Orlov immediately expressed a strong protest to Tukhachevsky. The General Political Department was requested to immediately reverse that decision. Even he called Tukhachevsky directly, and he lost his temper fiercely.

Perhaps, in Orlov's opinion, he has fully expressed his attitude and position, and even Tukhachevsky must respect his opinion and not make things too much.

But what Orlov did not expect was that his anger added fuel to the fire, and Tukhachevsky was already dissatisfied with the Navy and Air Force, and repairing a few naval cadets was a warning. It is a meaning to assert one's authority. In Tukhachevsky's view, if the Navy immediately lowers its posture and sincerely admits its mistakes, then he can consider raising his noble hand.

And now the situation is completely opposite, the attitude of the navy is very improper, and it dares to speak ill of him, the chief of the general staff, which is threatening and intimidating him! That's what it means to have no fear! Anyway, that's how Tukhachevsky saw it at the time.

So Tukhachevsky was more serious, he was going to give the navy a dismount. So at his behest, the investigation team began to go online, and the results were extremely unfavorable to the navy, and it was polite to say that this was preparing to let the navy take off a layer of skin.

"Tukhachevsky is blatantly framed. This is discrimination against the Navy Chiguoguo! Orlov yelled angrily.

Facing the angry Orlov, Stalin and Li Xiaofeng glanced at each other. Both knew very well what Orlov was complaining about them. However, Stalin and Li Xiaofeng preferred to discuss this matter in private.

"It's an opportunity, isn't it?" Li Xiaofeng said with a smile.

Stalin nodded silently and asked, "What are you going to do?" ”

Li Xiaofeng continued to smile and said, "I think everyone should sit down and discuss together!" ”

And this discussion leads to the scene at the beginning of this chapter, where the heads of the Sverdlov and Stalin cliques meet.

"Tukhachevsky is no longer fit to continue to be the chief of the General Staff, and even he is not suitable to continue to work in the Military Commission!" As soon as Mikoyan came up, he made clear the demands of the Stalin clique.

"Then who will be the chief of the General Staff?" Li Xiaofeng asked coldly.

Kirov immediately continued: "Neither Comrade Budyonny nor Comrade Voroshilov are more suitable than Tukhachevsky!" ”

Li Xiaofeng sneered and sarcastically said: "Hmph, why do I think Ubolevich is more suitable than them!" ”

To put it bluntly, what everyone cares about is actually the position of chief of the General Staff, and everyone wants to grasp this extremely important position. The problem was that neither Sverdlov nor Stalin was comfortable letting this position fall into the hands of the other side, which made the negotiations stalemate for a while.

"Let's take a step back!" "The chief of the General Staff is Comrade Egorov, Comrade Voroshilov is his deputy, and Comrade Andrei takes over the General Political Department!" ”

"You're too greedy!" Zhdanov sneered, "You account for half of the four headquarters, why?" ”

Sverdlov was not angry, and said smoothly: "Then let Comrade Ubolevich be Comrade Yegorov's assistant, Comrade Andriy will be the head of the General Armament, and Comrade Voroshilov will be the chief of the General Political Department. ”

This Jian yì blocked Zhidanov speechless, because he did this, he still felt that he was at a loss, Xiao Si's side caught the main and deputy positions of the best two headquarters, which was too strong. According to Zhdanov's idea, Yegorov should be the head of the General Staff, Voroshilov the deputy chief of the General Staff, Budyonny the head of the General Armament, and the remaining two headquarters should be handed over to Xiao Si's people.

The problem is, Xiao Si will never do this kind of loss-making business, and the General Armament Department is already in his hands, so why should he spit it out?

Seeing the constant controversy, in the end it was Stalin who made the decision: "Just follow Comrade Yakov's first plan, that's very reasonable!" ”

Mikoyan and Zhdanov wanted to say something, but Stalin stopped them with only one look, and then continued: "But before that the core issue we have to discuss is how to get the incompetent Tukhachevsky out of his post!" ”

Was this a problem for Mikoyan, Zhdanov and a certain immortal? For the three of them, it was not at all a problem to bring down Tukhachevsky, with the power of both of them in the Military Commission. It is completely possible to crush Tukhachevsky with one finger. What really needs to be considered is: What can be done to make Lenin more acceptable? Don't let your mentor get too angry.

On 10 July, just as Tukhachevsky was urging the task force to learn more about the case, the Central Military Commission suddenly convened an extraordinary meeting, at which the decision was unanimously approved by the Navy and Air Force after Stalin's nomination and the approval of the General Political Department.

The appointment was so sudden, and so fast. Trotsky and Tukhachevsky were somewhat caught off guard. Even Lenin was stunned for a few minutes when he learned of this resolution, and it took a while for the mentor to come to his senses, and his first action after coming to his senses was to make a phone call to Sverdlov.

"Comrade Yakov, did you receive a notice from the Military Commissariat? What do you think about the appointment of Comrade Andrei as director of the General Political Department? ”

In fact, Lenin was testing Sverdlov's attitude, and he wondered if Xiao Si had reached some agreement with Stalin behind his back.

And how did Sverdlov answer?

"Comrade Stalin had proposed this proposal to me before, but at that time I thought that Comrade Andrei was too young and it might not be appropriate to rush into charge of the work of the General Political Department, so this proposal was put on hold...... However, it now seems that the principal comrades of the Central Military Commission still approve of this arrangement. Since it is a collective resolution of the Military Commission, I have no opinion. And I will also try my best to help Comrade Andrei do a good job in the army's political work......"

Lenin's face became even more ugly when he put down the phone, Xiao Si said a bunch of nonsense, it was all, he didn't believe that someone stretched out his hand to the General Political Department, Xiao Si would not know and would not support it, the reason why Xiao Si said this was nothing more than to make his mentor look better.

By this time, Lenin had realized that Sverdlov and Stalin had united. And what should he do about it? To be honest, Lenin found it tricky, because he knew very well that after his retirement Stalin and Sverdlov had to unite, neither of them alone was Trotsky's opponent, and Lenin hoped that the right and left hands would unite to defend the interests of the Leninists as a whole.

However, the situation at this time was very different from Lenin's predictions, and before 1933 he feared that Sverdlov and Stalin together were no match for Trotsky, and now he feared that the two united would crush Trotsky. Neither the former nor the latter was liked by Lenin.

But now, whether Lenin liked it or not, the latter scenario has become a reality. Stalin and Xiao Si have already taken the General Political Department behind his back, which means that Trotsky is an absolute disadvantage in the Military Commission, and with Lenin's understanding of Stalin, it is definitely not free for him to support someone to be the director of the General Political Department, and Xiao Si will inevitably return the favor, so where will Stalin win next? Is it a party committee or a people's commissariat?

Of course, Lenin would have been very unhappy wherever he was, he had not yet retired! The younger brother below will teach him privately behind his back, if he really retreats, I'm afraid no one will listen to the scolding street!

Can't let these two mess around like this! Lenin had this idea right away. But it soon became clear to Lenin that he didn't seem to have a good way to stop Stalin and Sverdlov from fooling around.

Note that Lenin did not have a "good" way to stop it, not a way. For Lenin, if he really wanted to give Stalin and Sverdlov a little color, he could use his personal authority to make these two disobedient fellows suffer. As soon as he personally expressed a strong antipathy to the methods of Stalin and Sverdlov, there would immediately be a large vote in the party who would respond and would immediately make them look good.

The problem was that Lenin did not want to do this and could not do this, and in order to retire so that the Soviet Union's transfer of power could get on a virtuous track, he had been emphasizing collective leadership and democratic centralism since 1933. And now, the resolution of the Military Commission is undoubtedly the result of collective leadership, at least procedurally. Letting Lenin overturn this result with his personal authority is really a slap in the face and irony.

This was the first reason why Lenin could not make up his mind, after all, he still wanted to be an old man. The second reason, which is also fundamental, is that the actions of Stalin and Sverdlov within the Leninists are probably appreciative and pleasant.

Because with Lenin's retirement, the Leninists will inevitably be strongly challenged by the Trotskyists, and their interests will inevitably be affected, but now Sverdlov and Stalin can take the initiative to retain as much power as possible for the Leninists, which is a great good thing for the Leninists!

Even if Lenin was able to rely on his personal authority to suppress internal discontent, even if he had to weigh it more, in case he angered this little brother, before he retreated, everyone would not want to oppose him, and openly rebelled against him, how could this be done?

For these two reasons, Lenin hesitated and did not take drastic measures, which gave Stalin and Sverdlov an opportunity. You know, they wanted more than just the General Politics, the ultimate goal was Tukhachevsky, who wanted to cut off Trotsky's last pillar in the Military Commission.

At this time, Tukhachevsky was not aware of the danger coming, and his eyes were still fixed on the poor naval cadets, ready to teach the navy who did not listen to the words. But soon, Tukhachevsky knew who was teaching whom! (To be continued......)