Stalin made a mistake, he underestimated Tukhachevsky's abilities, so he did not throw himself into the counteroffensive at the first time and did not take Kuibyshev's Jianyì seriously. Although he promised Kuibyshev's construction on his lips, he only took it as a deaf ear.

Tsaritsyn's troops were not prepared for the attack, and remained in trenches, foxholes, or rubble walls, waiting for Denikin's White Army to provoke them. However, this waiting is destined to be useless, because Denikin is a rather decisive man.

"We have no time to waste," Denikin said without question, "from now on we will retreat, immediately disengage from contact with the Red Bandits, first to Astrakhan, and then further south along the railway line to Georgia!" ”

It is clear that Denikin had already set his goal of retreating along the Caspian coast to the Caucasus, gaining a foothold in Georgia and Azerbaijan and receiving assistance from the Entente before launching a counteroffensive.

This plan is realistic and the only escape route at the moment, but Wrangel has a lot of opinions about it.

"I don't have any opinion about the retreat. But I have only one question, what to do with the troops of the city of the Urals? Leave them alone? ”

There was silence in the conference room, and all the senior officers of the White Army, including Denikin and Wrangel, knew very well that the defenders of the Ural City were outcasts, cannon fodder to buy time for the main forces.

In the case of the Red Army crossing the river from Saratov and pressing from the direction of Orenburg, the opening of the communication line in the north can be said to be the delivery of food to the encirclement. For the generals of the White Army, the army is the foundation of their lives. It's impossible for anyone to make meat buns and beat dogs. Face friendly forces in distress. They are more accustomed to seeing death and not saving them.

So what does Wrangel mean by asking this question today? Is he ready to change his ways?

Definitely not. Wrangel is not a saint either, on the contrary, he is quite utilitarian and ambitious. The reason why this issue was suddenly raised was more for his personal political interests.

"It is a shame for a soldier to abandon his allies and abandon those warriors who fought to the death for the motherland! It's a crime! Wrangel shouted.

In fact, he glared at Denikin as he shouted, well, now everyone understands what he wants to do. It's nothing more than trying to hold Denikin responsible!

"Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, I think you are fully responsible for this! If you must give up the warriors who fought for your country, then you must take responsibility accordingly! ”

Denikin's face is very unsightly, and in recent days, Wrangel has been like a mad dog, pounced on him and bit him twice at every opportunity. Especially the previous Mironov's escape, which made him quite a wolf, and the two sides almost turned faces.

Fortunately, the Entente said that it still trusted him, otherwise the White Army would have had to fight first that time. And now, this guy has chosen a rather sensitive time to make trouble. I'm afraid it's hard to deal with!

"If you don't think my decision is right, if you're willing to take over the defenders of the Urals. Then you can just let it go, I won't stop it! Denikin sneered and kicked the ball back.

I have to say that this trick is very clever. Wrangel's use of the defenders of the Urals is nothing more than an excuse to embarrass Denikin, thereby completely denying his authority and command. And Denikin came to push the boat with a trick, don't you want to talk to Lao Tzu and the devil about some righteousness? Then Lao Tzu will fulfill you and send you to the city of Ural to die! You're going to Lao Tzu!

If it was the former Wrangel, he would have been choked enough by Denikin, but now that he has the advice of the dog-headed military advisor Alexander Lovevic, he has already calculated the possible response of Denikin.

So he didn't pay attention to the ball kicked back by Denikin at all, and still firmly grasped the previous topic and continued to speak: "Your Excellency, Commander-in-Chief, we are now discussing your order, you gave the order, but you are unwilling to take responsibility. On the contrary, in a shameless and almost difficult way to shirk responsibility, I doubt your responsibility, and even more doubt your character! ”

Denikin was a little surprised, and Wrangel's way of dealing with it made him very awkward, so he could only bite the bullet and say: "I said it, this decision was made as a last resort." If you don't like it, you can not do it! ”

"What kind of is this!" Wrangel showed a smile that had succeeded in the conspiracy, "As our commander, we must carry out your orders, but now you are inconsistent, Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, please forgive me for taking the liberty of being dizzy now!" ”

The atmosphere in the conference room became tense, and Denikin glared directly at Wrangel, who glared back without showing weakness. The others didn't even dare to come out, for fear that the slightest movement would detonate the contradiction between the two and make things irreparable.

After a long time, Denikin finally spoke: "My order is very clear, retreat!" Abandon the defenders of the city of Ural! As for any of you who disagrees, you can take your own troops to meet them! ”

Wrangel was about to speak, when Denikin burst out: "Enough, I'm not interested in playing any word games with you." Listen to me, I'm the boss here, you either carry out my orders or get out! ”

Just when everyone thought that Wrangel would break out, the bloody baron, who had previously seemed menacing, died down. I saw him sneer and drop a sentence: "Don't you just don't want to take responsibility?" What to pack! After that, he walked out of the conference room without looking back.

When everyone in the conference room was finished, Denikin sighed and leaned back in his chair gloomily. His current situation is very bad, the Entente group's support for him is very limited, or not at all, if it is not for the critical situation of the war to change the generals, otherwise they will definitely stand on Wrangel's side to kill him.

As for his subordinates with different hearts and ambitions, Denikin felt even more headaches, and these guys wanted him to fall. I wish he could get out of the way and reap the bigger benefits. As for that Wrangel. To this bloody devil who only knows infighting. Denikin really didn't like it, and felt that he shouldn't have taken in this white-eyed wolf in the first place, so that now he is raising tigers.

Unknowingly, Denikin fell asleep groggily, until he was woken up by his adjutant: "Your Excellency, something is wrong!" ”

Denikin rubbed his temples, raised his heavy head, his pupils seemed to be out of focus, and he asked blankly, "What's the big deal?" ”

"His Excellency Kolchak, the Supreme Governor, was forced to resign and go to the ......"

These words made Denikin suddenly shake a spirit. The invincible Kolchak is so finished? He couldn't believe his ears. You must know that he was very popular with the Entente, and was once hailed as the hope of Russia's future, why did he go into the field in the blink of an eye?

"Is the message exact?" He grabbed the adjutant by the collar and asked impatiently.

"The message is certain. The Socialist-Revolutionaries and the Mensheviks announced this at the same time, and also announced that Savinkov would act as supreme consul until the Constitutional Council elected a new supreme consul! ”

The adjutant, who couldn't understand the situation, thought that this was good news, and even congratulated his superior: "Your Excellency, in terms of seniority and prestige, I think you are the supreme ruler!" ”

Denikin smiled bitterly, he had indeed been interested in this supreme consul before. Of course, I am still interested, but after two years of training. He has fully understood the cruelty of the political zhì. To put it bluntly, the current Kolchak is probably the future of him, once there is a mistake, not to mention the supreme government, I am afraid that even the current position and small life will have to be put into it.

"Didn't Kolchak make a statement or call it on?" Denikin asked.

"No, after resigning from his position, His Excellency General Kolchak has lived in a secluded ......."

Denikin smiled bitterly, what kind of bullshit resigned, what bullshit lived in seclusion, I'm afraid Kolchak is under house arrest, and he has lost his personal freedom and has been completely reduced to fish and meat on the chopping block!

Denikin swallowed and foamed at the mouth and stood up suddenly, he didn't want to be the second Kolchak, he didn't want to be slaughtered, he had to hold the throat of fate tightly and not let the tragedy befall him.

Denikin categorically ordered: "Gather your troops and retreat immediately!" ”

Almost at the same time that Denikin gave the order to retreat, Tukhachevsky finally made heavy progress. His troops finally overcame the effects of the fog and finally crossed the damned Volga.

"Go south, I don't want to listen to any nonsense about going north, there is no point in going north!" Tukhachevsky took the trouble to say to his officers, "Our goal is Astrakhan, yes, I know that there are not enough troops!" But that's not a problem at all, if I'm not mistaken, Denikin has already started to retreat in a panic, and we won't encounter much resistance along the way, we must catch up and stick to them......"

One of the regiment commanders weakly interrupted Tukhachevsky's words and asked: "Comrade commander-in-chief, what about the White Army in the city of Urals?" Isn't our task to cooperate with the Eastern Front to the south to annihilate them? ”

When it comes to this task, Tukhachevsky is full of anger, does it take so much fanfare to annihilate a mere defender of the city of Urals? It's a joke!

"The Eastern Front will complete this task!" Tukhachevsky snorted heavily, and then continued: "We have to keep an eye on Denikin, he is the point!" ”

The uninteresting regimental commander asked again: "Isn't this the mission of the Tsaritsyn friendly forces?" ”

Tukhachevsky shouted angrily: "I am the commander-in-chief, now please listen to my orders honestly!" ”

The poor little regiment commander was frightened and hurriedly sat back, and as for Tukhachevsky, the little joy of successfully crossing the river was also wiped out by this uninteresting fellow, and the thought of the telegram sent to him by Stalin made his chrysanthemum burst into flames - what a bullshit camera action, you hemp clearly don't want to counterattack!

Of course, Tukhachevsky did not expect that Stalin's decision to make this camera action was partly due to his unsatisfactory crossing of the river, and because of the distrust of steel.

As mentioned earlier, Stalin underestimated Tukhachevsky too much. The so-called military genius is not the kind of master who can only fight with the wind and stop when he encounters adversity. At least Tukhachevsky is not such a person.

In the face of adversity, he still had a good way, and when he found that because of the thick fog, both the Red Army and the White Army were in chaos. He didn't hesitate. He didn't stand still. On the contrary, it is more bold to invest troops. He even encouraged the troops to boldly advance forward, regardless of the flanks, not to worry about being surrounded by the enemy, and to bravely penetrate the depth of the enemy.

This trick really worked, when the Red Army strode forward, when the White Army found that more and more Red Army "penetrated" their lines and hit their hinterland, these timid guys collapsed in an instant.

to mess up. Tukhachevsky gave the White Army a profound military lesson, so by the time Stalin decided to act with the camera, in fact, the White Army's lines of communication had already been cut off, and Tukhachevsky successfully completed his mission.

Stalin, on the other hand, failed to complete his task, and because of mistrust and other unspeakable reasons, he was slow to engage in a counteroffensive. Denikin was given plenty of time to escape, and his troops could calmly withdraw from the front line, then have breakfast and take a nap, and then calmly flee after recuperating their energy.

And wait for Stalin to discover this qiē. By the time we panicked into the counteroffensive, it was already too late. Not only was it late, but more importantly, Tsaritsyn's Red Army was not ready.

Kuibyshev looked at Stalin speechlessly, he really couldn't figure out how this dignified Politburo member could make such a low-level mistake. But now there is no point in dwelling on mistakes, what matters is how to make amends.

"The First Cavalry Army is basically ready for a counteroffensive, let them carry out the operation first!" Kuibyshev was speechless and said yes.

In fact, if it were not for Kuibyshev's presence, the preparations of the First Cavalry Army would have been empty talk, and Budyonny could not withstand his repeated urgings, so he reluctantly urged the troops to prepare for a counteroffensive. And now, this big boss must be glad that he has a good commissar.

After several months of lengthy positional warfare, Tsaritsyn's fighting reverted to a certain pattern on the battlefield of the Russian Civil War - large-scale movement warfare. Denikin was on the run, and the 1st Cavalry Corps was following in pursuit, and every now and then a small but particularly bloody encounter would break out.

Of course, Budyonny is particularly fond of this mode of combat, because it is the most powerful way to combat cavalry. However, he was not a master of this kind of warfare, and Mironov, another better cavalry general than him, also ushered in a turning point in his life.

"Andrey. Petrovich? Cheka? Mironov said in a very cold and hostile tone.

"Tell me, what are you going to charge me with?" He sneered, and then said to himself: "By the way, I forgot about your way of working, and the process of conviction can be completely omitted, right?" ”

Li Xiaofeng didn't speak, he just looked at Mironov very calmly, and let this person talk to himself.

"Alright, give me a good time! Lao Tzu is not afraid of death! Mironov was fed up with the silence of a certain immortal, and he roared impatiently.

The corners of Li Xiaofeng's mouth curled, and he smiled: "You just want to die so much?" ”

Mironov was enraged by his smile and said angrily: "You want to die!" ”

Li Xiaofeng interrupted him: "Since you don't want to die, why are you in such a hurry to provoke me?" Don't you know that my words can decide your life and death? ”

"You want me to bend your knee and beg for mercy? Lick your feet? Dream on! Mironov became more and more excited, brandishing his shackles and roaring: "Lao Tzu sits upright and sits upright, and he will be upright all his life, so that he will not be a pug who wags his tail and begs for mercy!" ”

Li Xiaofeng smiled again: "Who told sù that you have to wag your tail and beg for mercy, you have to be a dog to live?" ”

Mironov sneered: "Isn't it? ”

Li Xiaofeng said very calmly: "Of course not. For me, there's only one factor that can make or break your life! ”

"Which factor?"

"That's whether you're worth it or not." Li Xiaofeng explained with a smile: "If you don't have any value to the revolution anymore, then even if you wag your tail and beg for mercy on me, I will tick your name off in the book of life and death, and the next second you will be dragged out and shot, which can be regarded as saving a little precious food for the country, isn't it?" ”

Mironov was stunned, he didn't expect someone to be so straightforward, so straightforward that it was almost a red fruit. However, although this kind of Cheng dù's straightforwardness is very cold, it is also sincere, at least much better than those smiling tigers and hypocrites.

At this time, Li Xiaofeng continued: "But if you are useful, you can make an intentional contribution to the revolution, and you can play such a small role, then I don't mind leaving your life and letting you play your role before sending you on your way." ”

Speaking of this, he paused for a moment and asked, "Then Mironov, can you sue me for whether you are useful or useless?" ”

Mironov was stunned again, he didn't expect Li Xiaofeng to give him a chance to defend himself, whether it had any effect wasn't the kid's own judgment?

Li Xiaofeng smiled: "Of course I will make my own judgment, but before that, I am willing to listen to your own thoughts." I think you should have a deeper understanding of your own value, didn't you? ”

Mironov's cheeks twitched, he had never seen such a strange Cheka, in the past those guys usually grabbed people indiscriminately, and then tortured them, so that the ghosts would listen to your self-defense. And now, should he seize this opportunity to speak?

Li Xiaofeng was very patient, he didn't urge Mironov, just looked at this guy silently, he believed that this should be a smart person, at least he should know how to seize the last chance to survive...... (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to Comrade hzwangdd and Comrade Juventus!