The reason why Makhno and Petliura are mentioned is mainly because these two guys are in trouble now, after Denikin's eastward advance, the battle in the Volga valley, especially the defense of Tsaritsyn, is the focus on the battlefield, and the Ukrainian direction is relatively secondary.

As the commander-in-chief of the Southwestern Front, Frunze would certainly not watch Denikin storm the city, and when the White Army arrived under the city of Tsaritsyn, he immediately drew troops from the Ukrainian battlefield to reinforce the Don-Volga army.

It is also because of this that Makhno, who had been chased all over the world, and Petliura, who had abandoned Kiev in a hurry, lame again, one regained his vitality with his own ability and great influence among the peasants, and the other categorically chose to show favor to the Poles and obtained life-saving aid by betraying Western Ukraine.

For a time, these two men and horses took advantage of the weak strength of the Red Army to launch a large-scale counteroffensive, one turned the countryside upside down, and the other took the opportunity to recapture Kiev and threatened to retake Kharkov.

This kind of situation is naturally not what the central government wants to see, but he can't say anything more to Frunze, because he is also taking care of the overall situation, so he has to do so. As a result, the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine was quite unfavorable for the Red Army, and it was almost impossible for Ukraine to return to calm in the spring of 1919 without reinforcements from other directions.

"The battle situation in the Urals direction is still a stalemate, although we have stopped the eastward advance of the Kolchak bandits, but we want to counterattack, we want to defeat it for the time being. In particular, the arrival of winter has greatly increased the difficulty of our operations, and our logistics have also been greatly affected. The troops at the front were quite hard. ”

Trotsky began to give an account of the state of affairs on the battlefield as usual, but it was clear to those who knew him well. Lao Tuo is not in a good mood right now. Or rather, grim. Unlike when the wind is smooth, he will be so passionate, as if he wants to fly.

"The Volga battlefield was also not going well, Denikin's Cossack cavalry caused us great trouble, Tsaritsyn was surrounded on three sides and was in danger. Comrade Egorov repeatedly reported the need for reinforcements. ”

Speaking of this, Trotsky was exhausted, and he rubbed his temples. "As for Ukraine, Comrade Frunze has done his best, because he has transferred all the main forces to Comrade Yegorov. So there was only a strategic retreat, and on January 3 Kiev was abandoned ......"

Lenin's face was not much better than that of Trotsky, the military problems were handed over to Lao To, and the economic problems weighed on his shoulders like a mountain, so that he could barely breathe.

"The economic situation is dire, and with the fall of Donbass and the Urals, all the sources of industrial raw materials we need are in the hands of the enemy. The factories were unable to operate at full capacity, and the citizens lacked coal to protect them from the cold. In particular, food is extremely scarce, and famine has already occurred in some areas. ”

The bigwigs of the Politburo are worried one by one. In the face of these messy yarn situations, how to untie the thread and how to open the situation, they didn't have a good way for a while.

"If we want to break the deadlock, we must make a breakthrough, as long as we win in any direction, the big game of chess in the whole country can be revitalized!" Lenin did not want to continue on that dull topic, he began to boost morale: "I think it can be done, our situation is difficult, but the situation of the enemy is even more difficult, as long as we grit our teeth and hold on, it will definitely be them who will collapse first!" ”

Trotsky also exhaled a turbid breath and chimed in: "Comrade Lenin is quite right when he says that victory is perfectly expected...... I ask the Central Committee to allow me to go to the front line, and I must let the comrades on the front line know the determination of the Central Committee! ”

Lenin's sallow face showed a somewhat morbid flush, and he nodded heavily, agreeing to Trotsky's request, and now he had to grit his teeth and fight!

At the end of the meeting, when everyone was doing their job, the mentor leaned heavily on the back of his chair, and at the end of the day, he felt that all his physical strength had been drained, and there were constant convulsions of pain in the depths of his forehead, and his temples jumped suddenly, as if his blood vessels were about to burst.

Lenin held his forehead in one hand and flipped through the half-foot-thick pile of papers on the table with the other. He, chairman of the People's Commissariat Committee, worked 16 hours a day and had more than a dozen meetings, but these damn documents had never been reduced. Even as soon as he took a breath, these damn documents "went crazy" at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Lenin rang the bell, summoned the secretary, and ordered: "You tell Comrade Krupskaya that there are too many things for me to deal with, and I will not go back tonight." ”

This was not the first time Lenin had spent the night in his office, in fact he spent most of the night in his office cubicle after the capital was moved to Moscow and after the outbreak of the full-scale civil war.

The secretary nodded, and was about to leave the country, when Lenin stopped him again: "Please call Comrade Ruzutak." ”

The secretary closed the door softly, and Lenin looked at the papers on the table, feeling his head hurt even more, which forced him to stop working for a while, open the window to let in some air, and only felt a little more relaxed when the cold wind outside the window blew through his head.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Lenin said: "Come in." "I'm still a little puzzled in my heart, Ruzutak came too quickly, right?

Naturally, it was not Ruzutak who was brought in by the secretary, but Li Xiaofeng, and after basically solving Yudenich, he rushed back to Moscow, and the first batch of students of the Central Party School had already graduated, although he did not catch up with the graduation ceremony, but the diploma was still needed. And he had other things to discuss with his mentor, so he happened to make such a trip.

A certain immortal walked into Lenin's office with a large bag and a small bag, much to the consternation of the new secretary, Fodieva. She later recalled: "There was only one person in the party who dared to give a gift to Comrade Lenin openly, and that was Comrade Andrei, who always returned from Finland with a large bag of red wine, Cuban cigarettes, and Indian tea. The most amazing thing is that on one occasion he brought a wagon of tropical fruits. In that period of scarcity, these were undoubtedly the most extravagant pleasures, but the comrades were looking forward to the generous Comrade Andrei coming a few more times. Because every time he gave a gift to Comrade Lenin. were all distributed by Comrade Lenin to the comrades working in the Kremlin......"

"Why are you here?" Lenin first expressed surprise at the sudden arrival of a certain immortal. Then he expressed serious dissatisfaction with someone's extravagant and wasteful behavior: "Now the supply of materials across the country is very tight, and the masses are cutting back on food and clothing, but you are engaging in extravagance and waste. Andre. Comrade Petrovich, what are you doing here? ”

Li Xiaofeng didn't care, and replied calmly: "I'm giving you a gift!" It's not that I'm not short of supplies, and I won't give you a gift! I've heard that the food in the Kremlin is not very good! I don't think this will work, the brain needs nourishment, and the life of comrades in the central government's decision-making work must keep up, otherwise once the decision is wrong. The damage caused is incalculable......"

"Okay, don't take out your crooked reasoning and heresy," Lenin hurriedly interrupted a certain immortal, he really didn't have time to accompany a certain immortal to talk nonsense, you kid likes to give gifts, then give it away, anyway, the vast majority of people in the Kremlin are iron roosters who don't do anything about gifts. He instructed: "If there is nothing else to do, return to Finland and solve the problems there as soon as possible." Let the volunteers return home to fight earlier! ”

How could Li Xiaofeng go, he was not stupid, and the gift was gone. There has to be a way to say that it's not, even if it's thrown into the water, it's a little noisy.

"I'm here this time. It is to discuss with you the problems of the Northern Front. Li Xiaofeng said with a smile.

Seeing the smile of a certain immortal, Lenin subconsciously knew that there was nothing good about it, and every time someone laughed at this virtue, there were certain bad things waiting for him to help wipe his buttocks.

"What's wrong with the Northern Front?" Lenin rubbed his temples and asked rhetorically: "Hasn't Yudenich already been defeated?" ”

"Of course Yudenich's forces have been defeated," Li Xiaofeng continued to laugh, "but this settlement is of a temporary nature. We beat him once last March, and we thought we would get rid of him, but who would have thought that he would recover after a few months. This time it almost didn't work. ”

Li Xiaofeng looked at Lenin, the mentor had no expression, and he didn't know what Lu Dao's attitude was towards this, so he could only continue to say: "And this time, he fled into Estonia again, and the situation is exactly the same as the last time." I doubt he'll ever have another resurgence a few months later. ”

Lenin glanced at Li Xiaofeng meaningfully and asked slowly: "What do you want to say?" Say! ”

Li Xiaofeng smiled awkwardly and said, "I just think that we should cut the grass and eradicate the roots, and we must completely solve Yudenich, and we can't give him another chance!" ”

Lenin sneered and asked rhetorically: "How to solve him?" He fled to Estonia, and according to the Brest Pact, we must fully respect the independence and sovereignty of Estonia! ”

Li Xiaofeng felt that something was wrong, and the tone of the mentor did not seem to be directed towards him, as if he was planning to ignore Yudenich, which made it difficult for him to say what he said later.

However, a certain immortal was very thick-skinned, and said with a shy face: "The Brest contract must naturally be observed, but Yudenich cannot let it go." Every time it's like this, he's still a bully for us! ”

After a pause, Li Xiaofeng threw out a plan: "We should immediately send a note to the Estonian ambassador and extradite Yudenich!" ”

"Extradition?" Lenin read it silently, with a contemplative expression, and said for a long time: "Estonia will agree?" ”

"Whether they agree or not, at least show our attitude, otherwise they will think we are easy to bully!" Li Xiaofeng agitated.

"What if Estonia refuses strongly? What if Estonia simply ignores our demands? What if they choose to stall and let Yudenich escape? Lenin threw out three questions in a row.

However, Li Xiaofeng was already confident, and he replied: "If Estonia refuses strongly, then we can react further." Because they have proved their tendencies with their deeds, it is necessary to teach a lesson to the countries that harbor counter-revolutionaries like Yudenich! ”

Lenin was somewhat annoyed: "What do we teach Estonia a lesson? The war in the Urals and Volga directions is quite tense, and Ukraine is in chaos again, so to provoke Estonia at this time, do you want to stir up the north into a pot of porridge? ”

As soon as Li Xiaofeng was about to speak, Lenin continued to teach: "I know what you want to say, and I also know that there is indeed an opportunity to recover the three Baltic states by taking advantage of the fact that the Germans have no time to look eastward. But the problem is that we don't have that strength! The most important thing for us now is to deal with the White Army at home. And not in a hurry to export the revolution! ”

Li Xiaofeng pursed his lips in his heart. He really has no interest in exporting the revolution, and the recovery of the three Baltic states is just his established strategy, only by getting these three countries can he support the Jews back to back, and only when the Jews make a fuss can the Poles temporarily have no time to participate in the affairs of Ukraine. Without the Poles participating in that mess in Ukraine, things would have been much easier.

And now, the mentor rejected his proposal in one bite. Could it be that he had the idea of going to fight Belarus first?

Just when a certain immortal wanted to continue fighting, Ruzutak came, and the mentor just sent him away under the pretext. Maybe for the mentor, a certain immortal is purely here to cause trouble, and it is imperative to discuss the union and worker issues with Ruzutak in a serious manner.

Could something have gone wrong with the working class led by the Bolsheviks? It should be said that after the victory of the October Revolution, the morale of the Russian working class was not ordinarily high, and the pride of being the masters of the house made them feel like they had been stimulated. Especially after the signing of the Brest contract. They were full of affection for the Bolsheviks, who did what they said, and looked forward to the day when they would live a good life.

Of course. The civil war disrupted their dreams, but they were not discouraged at all, but instead took out all their energetic and desperate work, hoping that the Red Army would give them the strength to eliminate the White Bandit Army as soon as possible.

However, the mental energy thing works once or twice, but there are always only slogans and ideas, but the actual life has not changed much, and it is even worsening, which is very fatal. When you can't eat enough day by day, and you have to freeze in winter, your heart is higher than the flame, and one day your heart will fall back, or even drop to a low point.

Although this was not yet the case, Lenin felt the need to vaccinate in advance in order to prevent excessive overdrawing of the Bolsheviks' credibility with the working class. What the Mentor meant was that the trade unions should actively organize and act to cheer up the working class and try to maintain their spirits.

To this, Ruzutak's answer is: "It is easy to mobilize the enthusiasm of the workers' brothers, as long as they can eat enough, the big guys will work hard......"

This answer is tantamount to no answer, and if Lenin could feed the workers, there would be no need to play any spiritual victory. Isn't this just a matter of drawing bread to satisfy hunger?

"Then I can only try to strengthen the propaganda work and cheer up as much as possible." Ruzutak replied with great difficulty, and added at the end: "It cannot be sustained without improving the material conditions." ”

Of course, Lenin knew this, but wasn't there no way to do it? He was about to wave his hand to let Ruzutak do it, when an immortal suddenly broke in again.

"Why are you back again?" Lenin said with some displeasure, "I have said that we should now try to pay attention to domestic affairs, and foreign affairs first!" ”

Li Xiaofeng replied with a smile: "Didn't I just hear from you that you want to cheer for the working class?" ”

Lenin frowned and asked, "Do you have a way?" ”

Li Xiaofeng shook his head and said, "Without a material foundation, there is no way for immortals!" ”

Lenin was a little unhappy, and said to himself: "You kid are here to entertain me?" ”

However, Li Xiaofeng also saw that the tutor was in a bad mood, and quickly explained the mystery: "However, I have a way to get a little more food!" ”

The corners of Lenin's mouth twitched, and he subconsciously knew that someone's method was definitely not a good one. To listen or not to listen?

After a long time, he said, "Tell me!" ”

From this sentence, it can be seen that the master is not optimistic about the method that a certain immortal came up with, but he really has no choice but to listen to it.

Li Xiaofeng can't take care of so much, the tutor wants food, then it will be easy to do, "Recently, the ethnic problem in Poland has been quite acute, and the ethnic minority groups are collectively dissatisfied with the brutal rule of Poland and the Germans, and have put forward demands for national self-determination. ”

Lenin's mind was a little out of the way, and he wondered what the national movement in Poland had to do with the food question.

Li Xiaofeng continued: "According to the reliable information I have received, the ethnic minorities in Poland have begun an armed uprising and are demanding the establishment of an autonomous region in the east. ”

Lenin still didn't understand what a certain immortal wanted to say, so he wrinkled his brows and glared at him, the meaning was quite clear - don't beat around the bush, just say it!

Li Xiaofeng smiled again: "Their demand for autonomy has gained considerable sympathy, for example, the Jewish community in the United States has begun to raise funds to assist their compatriots in Poland in their self-government movement. ”

It suddenly dawned on Lenin that he finally knew what a certain immortal had spared such a large circle for. To put it bluntly, it is still eyeing the money bags of the Jews. The Mentor was immediately embarrassed, the Jewish consortium in the United States did have money, and if they could open the money bag or help get food, the famine in the country would be alleviated. But it's easy to anger the Germans!

Li Xiaofeng added: "According to the reliable information I have received, the Germans are now taking care of themselves. There is no energy or ability to take care of Polish affairs at all! And there is pressure from the Entente bloc, they don't dare to turn their faces on us! ”

Lenin fell into deep thought, and after a long time he asked: "Did you take a fancy to this point when you had the idea of attacking the three Baltic states?" (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you for the flickering words, holding the broken son, Juventus and Comrade hzwangdd!