Poznan, 16 September 1919. Front Command of the Belarusian Front.

When Tukhachevsky put down his binoculars, anyone could tell that his face was very bad. Not only because the last attack was once again repelled by the intervention forces of the Entente, but more importantly, because he was quite shocked by the combat skills and firepower displayed by the enemy!

The charging cavalry of the Red Army and the machine-gun wagons, which had won many battles on the domestic battlefield, turned into children's toys in Poznan. Greeted by enemy artillery and armored vehicles, they were crushed. If it weren't for the fact that the initiative was still in Tukhachevsky's hands for the time being, it was entirely possible that the offensive under his personal command would have been crushed. His proud troops will most likely be eaten by the enemy in one bite!

"Suspend the offensive," Tukhachevsky said gloomily, "let the troops strengthen their positions in place!" ”

After saying this, Tukhachevsky walked away on his own, he needed to calm down, he needed to think about how to open the situation.

The battle in Poznan was completely different from the Russian Civil War. In the Russian Civil War, neither the Red Army nor the White Army basically did not have the so-called complete front, and neither side had enough supplies and time to maintain the front, and it was as common to fight thousands of miles as drinking boiled water.

Poznan, on the other hand, was a typical World War I-style positional warfare, in which the Allies, who were temporarily at a "disadvantage", built fortified positions and built four defensive lines around Poznan, with barbed wire, anti-tank trenches, and mine arrays. This was a tough nut for the Red Army, which was good at maneuvering and weak in firepower.

But Tukhachevsky had no choice, no matter what he personally thought. This bone he had to gnaw. In any case, Trotsky had repeatedly urged him to hurry up and liberate Poznan. He was ordered to march boldly to Berlin.

"I need cannons! Especially with the need for heavy artillery! ”

Unprecedented. Tukhachevsky's reply to Trotsky began with two exclamation points, both of which were highlighting the role of the cannon. This is quite unusual for him, who had previously despised the role of artillery.

"The enemy's positions are very strong and he has full experience in positional combat. It is difficult for our cavalry to play a role in such a static battlefield, and if you want to break through the position, you can only use artillery to open the way! ”

If Li Xiaofeng saw this telegram, he would probably have to shake his head, because the First World War had proved that artillery alone was not useful. Otherwise, why invent tanks? As a half-baked military fan of later generations, Li Xiaofeng knew that if he wanted to break through a solid position, he couldn't just have artillery! Even tanks alone won't work!

Breakthrough operations have never been effective with a single type of weapon, nor can they be used with a large number of people and a large number of artillery. If you want to break through the position, you have to work more on tactics, and the precise tactical coordination is much more than that of artillery tanks.

In fact, at the end of World War I, the countries involved in the war were already aware of this, and after careful research and deduction, the Germans set up "death squads" dedicated to breakthrough operations. The unit has applied a new tactic that allows the infantry to no longer act like cannon fodder. In the final offensive, they proved that even without tanks, the infantry was able to break through a fortified position.

Unfortunately, the experience of the Germans came too late, and the war ended before they could massively promote infantry assault tactics. The Russians were even more unlucky, before the fall of the Tsar, they were ordinary soldiers as gray animals, and they were used like human sandbags, so naturally they could not talk about infantry tactics. In the Russian Civil War after the fall of the Tsar, the form of war was far from the First World War or modern warfare, and the combat experience gained during this period did not help to break through the position, and even brought Tukhachevsky and them to the pit.

So Tukhachevsky's thoughts in the face of a strong defensive position were still stuck in 1916, thinking that the presence of artillery would solve the qiē problem. It has to be said that the genius marshal at this time was behind the times in terms of tactics or breakthrough tactics.

What is even more tragic is that in the face of Tukhachevsky's tactical requirements lagging behind the times, Trotsky was unable to meet them, and the old Torotsky could not provide the artillery that Tukhachevsky wanted, and even sent telegrams to Tukhachevsky again and again: "Is it possible to bypass Poznan, take advantage of the high mobility of the Belarusian Front to penetrate deeply, and force the enemy to abandon his position with a war of movement?" ”

The answer, of course, is impossible, can you bypass Poznan, can you also bypass Berlin? If we want to win the victory of the revolution, we must not always avoid the question of tackling tough problems, right? Besides, how to solve the problem of replenishment?

In any case, in Tukhachevsky's view, Trotsky's construction was a death, a rush to achieve results, and there was a suspicion of sending the Belarusian Front into the enemy's pocket. As a good military strategist, Tukhachevsky still had this basic element, so he immediately rejected Trotsky's proposal and again strongly demanded fire support.

Trotsky was a little scrambling for a moment, and he had felt that it was a great honour to take Warsaw, which meant a complete victory for his course. But after really snatching the burden of Warsaw into his hands, he found that the joy of victory disappeared so quickly, and endless troubles followed.

Warsaw's population of more than a million was waiting to be fed, and the food problem alone made Trotsky anxious, in fact, Li Xiaofeng had warned him a long time ago, but at that time Trotsky was only thinking about how to carry out his line, and the opinions of others were not listened to. So it wasn't until he fell into the pit that he fell and broke the blood flow that he reacted - Nima, this is really a pit!

It's not just a pit, it's a bottomless pit! You must know that Li Xiaofeng completely isolated and blockaded Warsaw for two or three months, during which time the last bit of life-saving food for Warsaw residents had been exhausted. The food crisis before Trotsky was not at all buffered!

And what's even more terrifying is that a certain immortal ordered the East Prussian People's Liberation Army to sweep the area around Warsaw more than once, and basically all that can be robbed is gone, and the rest that can't be robbed are almost all mines!

Originally, Trotsky was also ready to open his knife on the Polish bourgeoisie, ready to knock them out. But he soon discovered that the poles of the Polish bourgeoisie were hollow. It's been knocked out by a certain immortal. Except for real estate, which he could not eat or drink, there was nothing left for him.

This is quite fatal, the Polish bourgeoisie has become a poor ghost, and the autumn wind of the Polish proletariat cannot be beaten, so it can be said that Trotsky is in a rather awkward position, a fundamental dilemma.

So much so that Trotsky was directly annoyed and angry, and sent a small report to the Politburo, and told a certain immortal a certain immortal: "The looting of Poland by the East Prussian People's Liberation Army." It has affected the lives of the Polish people harshly, and has had an extremely bad impact...... This behavior must be corrected! ”

In fact, the big guys knew what Trotsky wanted to say most, and he was nothing more than complaining that some immortal and Jew had robbed him of all the resources he could, and left him nothing. He was trying to squeeze oil and water from a certain immortal under the guise of criticism.

"This is nonsense!" Sverdlov couldn't accept it at the first time, not only because a certain immortal was his brother, but also because a certain immortal had already said this before, "Comrade Andrei has reminded him before that Poland's economy has collapsed, and Warsaw is a heavy economic and political burden, and we should not liberate Warsaw lightly until we are ready." And what Comrade Trotsky said before. He kept saying that the liberation of Warsaw was a minor issue, and he was completely prepared...... And now? His preparation turned out to be empty words. There was no preparation at all! At this time, he did not think about how to solve the problem positively, but blamed his friends in East Prussia, what was the reason? ”

Although Bukharin had previously disagreed with Trotsky on the question of the invasion of Poland, they were still one faction after all, and even if he admitted that there was some truth in Xiao Si's words, he would have to speak for Trotsky:

That is true, but the reality in Poland was so bad that the bourgeoisie was swept away, and the crisis was further exacerbated by the blockade that lasted for more than two months. Comrade Trotsky could be said to have just caught the full-fledged outbreak of the crisis, and even if he had prepared, he would have been caught off guard......"

Stalin sarcastically said: "This shows that Trotsky was in too much of a hurry, and that he should wait for the full-fledged food crisis in Warsaw before pushing forward the revolutionary process in Poland, so that he would be much more proactive and would not have to sit on wax as he is now!" ”

To tell the truth, Stalin's words are a bit unreasonable, the full-scale outbreak of the crisis in Warsaw is actually a mutually reinforcing process, if the Belarusian Front does not enter Poland, the crisis may not have erupted so quickly, and once the Entente preemptively intervenes and supports Poland, the crisis may dissipate invisibly. All in all, a broom won't run off on its own without dust.

"The most important thing now is not to hold accountable, but how to solve the difficulties encountered by Comrade Trotsky and the Belarusian Front!"

Bukharin is to the point this time, what is the point of talking about accountability at this time? Let's hurry up and think about how to help Trotsky!

"I will build yì," continued Bukharin, "let the Baltic Front and the East Prussian People's Republic support Comrade Trotsky, and deal with this crisis first!" ”

Bukharin's building yì right? In the big picture, this is correct, the Belarusian Front had a blunder in Poland, and East Prussia was naturally cold-lipped. But in the opinion of Sverdlov and Stalin, it was not so cheap!

In their view, if Trotsky had spoken well before, instead of holding the East Prussian People's Liberation Army "responsible" as soon as he spoke, but had honestly asked for support, then he would have come to the aid of the Belarusian Front as much as he could.

But just now it was not at all like that, you Trotsky did not come up to ask for someone, but to bite someone. East Prussia and our Leninists don't owe you anything, what are you arrogant? Do you really think that you are the leader of the party, the boss?

Since you don't talk well, then I'm sorry, we're not used to your stinky temper, and we're not good at talking, so we want help, right, no! When will you learn to ask for help?

Both Sverdlov and Stalin took a strong stance that Lenin would have to defend his right-hand man's authority, even if Lenin might not have fully approved of their approach. So Trotsky's accusations were only exchanged for the criticism of the Politburo:

"Comrade Trotsky, the first thing you have to do at this time is to criticize yourself, precisely because you have underestimated the bad form of Poland. Only then did the guide zhì a comprehensive passive. The East Prussian People's Liberation Army was a formidable and formidable division. Moreover, they were important friends and partners of the Red Army. In this time of crisis. You should unite more friends and not create contradictions within the revolutionary front! ”

Of course, Lenin did not completely fail to give Trotsky a little face, and he very much agreed with Bukharin that the most important thing now was to solve the problem, not to fight internally.

So in the second half of the telegram, he instructed: "...... Of course, Poland's problems are very serious. It was much more difficult than the Politburo had anticipated...... The Politburo can also understand and understand your actual situation, and will try its best to coordinate and help you solve these problems...... Comrade Politburo Commissariat Tukhachevsky, in the name of the Commander-in-Chief of the Belarusian Front, requested assistance from the East Prussian People's Republic. Comrade Petrovich, who agreed to assist Tukhachevsky in communicating with his comrades in East Prussia. ”

After reading the telegram, Trotsky had mixed feelings, and it was clear that Lenin had overtaken him in this encounter. According to Trotsky's original plan, this venting of his dissatisfaction with East Prussia was in fact a fire reconnaissance, and he was actually testing the reaction of the Central Committee to see how many people supported Lenin. There are still many people who support him.

If his supporters had gained the upper hand, Trotsky would have crushed East Prussia strongly. forced Li Xiaofeng to comply. This means that he will blow the clarion call for a counterattack against Lenin in an all-round way.

Unfortunately, it backfired. Judging by the reaction of the Politburo and the Central Committee, the Leninists still had the upper hand, and his temptation was directly punched back, and Lenin was severely beaten with a stick. Don't look at Lenin's back and let Tukhachevsky come out and ask for help, as if to take care of Trotsky's face, to give him a step. But in fact, Trotsky himself knew that it was the so-called sweet date that was so lethal. Because Lenin was doing this for the whole party to see, that is, to declare to the party: "See, I still defend the overall situation, and if I don't take care of Trotsky's face, he will not be able to step down in this matter!" ”

To be honest, this subtext of Lenin is what makes Trotsky most depressed and atmospheric. He could only tell himself over and over again: "Be patient, I want to be more patient." ”

Trotsky knew that now was not the time to be rash, and that it was better to obediently accept Lenin's kindness, for if he was about to fall out, he would be the first to be unlucky.

Of course, Trotsky was not so easy to "bully," let alone admit defeat, and soon the "aid list" drawn up by him was handed to Li Xiaofeng by Tukhachevsky's hand. When Li Xiaofeng saw this thick stack of lists, he couldn't help but be furious: "Trotsky, you deceive people too much!" ”

There is no way, who made Trotsky simply open his mouth, if East Prussia really grabbed the medicine and gave Trotsky all the supplies on the list to Trotsky, then East Prussia really had to be pants, and even pants were not enough!

If you follow Li Xiaofeng's previous temper, he will simply not pull out a dime a dime and give no aid -- aren't you Trotsky a bull? Lao Tzu is even more awesome than you!

Fortunately, after two years of training, Li Xiaofeng is no longer what it used to be, he is no longer so impulsive, and after a moment of anger, he thinks a lot.

Didn't Trotsky know how excessive the list was? I'm afraid he must know that that guy did it on purpose. The reason why he did this was nothing more than two purposes: the first was to see if he could provoke Li Xiaofeng, and the second was to use this to test again and feel the bottom line of the Leninists.

If he could provoke Li Xiaofeng and make the matter bigger, Trotsky would not be afraid at all, he was just afraid that the matter would not be big enough, anyway, the whole party now knows that the Belarusian Front and Poland are the most important, and they will serve Poland in the fight, and whoever pulls back on this issue will be the enemy of the whole party. If Li Xiaofeng could automatically stand on this opposite side, then Trotsky would not mind crushing someone just like that.

Of course, if someone is not fooled, it doesn't matter, anyway, Trotsky's request for assistance is there, and as long as someone gives, then no matter how much or how little they give, they can continue to fight with each other. Trotsky could have used this to test the reality of Lenin's faction and find out where Lenin's bottom line was.

Let's put it this way, no matter how you look at it, Trotsky will not lose money.

But is that really the case? He never thought that after Li Xiaofeng got the "aid list", he didn't say anything, and directly handed it to Pavel, and openly expressed the hope that Pavel would do his best to help the Belarusian Front for the sake of the traditional friendship between the two sides.

And then what? And then there was no then. Why not then? Because the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs had received complaints from the ambassador of the East Prussian People's Republic, who denounced in almost accusatory tones that the "list of aid" was completely out of touch with reality and that it was nothing more than plundering the East Prussian people, the East Prussian people expressed strong concern, and even a part of the population demanded that the government reconsider its relations with Russia.

The question of the internal struggle between the Trotskyists and the Leninists became a question of international relations, which aroused the apprehension of Russia's important allies, the consequence of which was quite strict. If the East Prussian People's Republic turns against the water, then whether it is Poland, it will become more complicated, and even the three Baltic states that have just been pacified will fall back into turmoil, who can afford to take this responsibility? No matter how you look at it, Trotsky can't afford it. (To be continued......)

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