Are the Czechs reliable?

The Czechs are not reliable at all!

Many years later, when Denikin, who had lived in the United States, recalled that scene, he would always scold the Czechs for helping them in their most difficult times, while the Czechs chose to be treacherous in their most difficult times.

The situation was such that when Denikin retreated with the main forces in the direction of Kotelnikovo, the troops of Mamontov and Titerichs were responsible for the break, and the Red Army should be delayed in the Volgadonsk direction for at least three days before retreating, and Titerikhs promised to hold out in Volgodonsk for three days, vowing to wash away the previous shame.

But in the actual battle, this brother instantly became a rabbit, and the vanguard of the Red Twelfth Army arrived under the city of Volgodonsk, and this one ran away directly with the troops. Only Mamontov's 4th Cavalry Corps on the Don remained to hold back the Red Army.

Denikin, who learned the news, was a smoker at the time, swore that he would make Titerikhs and the Czechs pay, and even made up his mind to shoot him directly once the goods arrived in Kotelnikovo!

But Titerikhs was not simple, this cargo did not go to Kotelnikovo at all, but directly bypassed the city and fled in the direction of Shangsar.

Originally, according to Mamontov's idea, the Czechs were fighting in the streets, and his cavalry was operating on the periphery, maneuvering and flexible to entangle with the Red Army, so that he could buy a little more time.

But the flight of the Czechs made this arrangement a flower in the water, and Mamontov, who had no time to organize the defense of the city, could only watch as the Red Twelfth Army occupied Volgodonsk bloodlessly.

It was a very brave and brilliant cavalry general. Quite tough. With his little strength, there was really no way to wrestle with the Red Army. But Mamontov could not walk away like Titeririchs. There was only one result, the Red Army swarmed him and Denikin in the Volga Valley.

"We can't run away, we can't abandon our comrades like Czech cowards, we will fight a good battle with the Red Bandits here, and let the Red Bandits see how powerful we are!"

Mamontov was by no means just paying lip service, and although he had suffered losses in previous battles, he felt that the Red Army was far less terrible, as a highly mobile cavalry. He was determined to give the two-legged Red Army mud legs a taste of greatness.

Mamontov completely scattered his infantry on the road from Volgadonsk to Kotelnikovo, and although his infantry could not form a complete line of defense, these scattered infantry along the communication lines would gradually consume the impact of the Red Army's advance, dragging the Red Army's legs little by little.

"Don't be in love with war, once the Red Bandits have more than three times your strength, as soon as you hear the roar of the cannons, immediately abandon your position and turn to the next place, or learn from the Red Bandit guerrillas to harass the Red Bandits. My request is that this road must be turned upside down. Let the red bandits not be at peace for a moment! ”

Mamontov's idea was to exchange space for time, to use the infantry positions scattered along the communication lines to hold back the Red Army's footsteps, so that the rear cavalry continued to counter-charge and run, and used point defense and quick recoil to stick to the Red Army to buy time for the main force.

But is this set of tactics any good? Don't say it's really easy to use! Although the Red Twelfth Army had an absolute advantage in strength, most of them were new recruits and did not have rich combat experience, and normal people would be fooled when they encountered Mamontov's tactics.

For what? Very simple. Mamontov threw the infantry on the lines of communication to serve as nails, and his role was to make the Red Twelfth Army stop and pull nails. According to the most basic military principle, no one can tolerate enemy strongholds stuck on their own advance routes, and it is estimated that no one can advance with peace of mind if these strongholds are not captured.

And Mamontov took advantage of this mentality, the Red XII Army encountered a nail, and it was definitely necessary to stop, change from a marching formation to a battle formation, and then attack and pull out the nail. After pulling out the nails, they then turn into a marching formation, then they meet the nails again, then they change to a battle formation again, and they fight again.

Such a toss back and forth will consume a lot of time. What's more, Mamontov's cavalry was not vegetarian, and from time to time they would stab out diagonally, give the Red Army on the march three axes, and run away.

Thus, the Red Twelfth Army fell into a kind of vicious circle of marching, fighting, being attacked, and marching again, although it seemed that they were still advancing steadily, and telegrams of victory and success flew to Ubolevich's headquarters like snowflakes, but in fact the speed of the troops was greatly slowed down.

Leonid, a veteran of the battles and now commander of the Red Army, recalled: "We quickly captured Volgodonsk, which was easy compared to the river crossing in Zimryansk. Then we threw ourselves into the pursuit of the storm...... It should be said that the pursuit operation was also relatively easy, although the enemy constantly tried to stop us, but under our strong offensive they quickly collapsed (at least we thought so at first), and one victory after another, we smashed the enemy's defense line like a bamboo, and it was simply invincible...... I remember very well that every time the enemy position was captured, the battalion commander and political commissar would ask for merit from their superiors, and many comrades were honored to join the party in the firing line, and I also received the first Order of the Red Banner, because I was the first to plant the Red Flag on the enemy's position with my wit and bravery...... Of course, what I want to focus on now is not about the merits, but about the problems that are hidden within......"

Leonid paused and said a little seriously: "After fighting like this for two whole days, we began to realize that something was wrong, we seemed to have fallen into the trap of the enemy!" Why do you say that? Because we found that the enemy's defense line seemed to be layer after layer, and it was impossible to finish it at all. Even a lot of times, when it's not a good place to build a position, those damn white dogs will hold us back for a while...... And as soon as we were too numerous, or when the cannons and machine guns that had been brought up from behind started firing, the bastards would immediately retreat...... They run faster than rabbits. Soon. When we get back in lineup. It doesn't take long to meet their resistance again! ”

Leonid showed a laughing and crying expression: "Later, we learned that these white dogs were deliberate, that is, to kill our time, but this was understood a little too late...... And as soon as we adjust our tactics and ignore them and choose to bypass their lines, Mamontov's cavalry will immediately jump out and launch wave after wave of onslaught at us...... Not beat around the bush. We have never fought such a battle, let alone seen such an unreasonable way of fighting, which is very worrying for a while......"

Ubolevich was the first to notice that something was wrong, and he did not believe that the White Army could build so many defensive fronts in a very short time, and according to the telegrams of the front-line troops, they had broken through almost twenty or thirty lines. How is this possible!

Ubolevich quickly rushed to the front line to personally understand the situation, and soon saw through Mamontov's calculations, this guy just wants to exchange space for time, just wants to delay time. So he immediately ordered the troops to ignore the shit-like blocking positions of the White Army and bypass them directly. Don't worry about the flanks, don't have the heart to the rear. Boldly interspersed, straight to Kotelnikovo.

It should be said that such an arrangement was correct, and the most important thing for the Red Army now was to catch up with Denikin's main forces, cling to him and sticking to him. The child's playful blocking positions that Mamontov created naturally had the troops behind to crush them.

Mamontov also changed his tactics quite quickly, and after discovering that the Red Army was beginning to bypass the nails he had scattered, he immediately led the cavalry unit to intercept it. Here we have to mention Mamontov's cavalry, which was a little different from the cavalry under Voroshilov, or the newly formed cavalry of the Bolsheviks.

Most of Mamontov's cavalry were Cossacks recruited from the Don and Ukraine, and these people were born cavalrymen, considered executioners on horseback. They are skilled in riding, good at using sabers, and are indomitable when they charge, and they are very strong.

And Voroshilov's cavalry was not, in the sense that Voroshilov's socialist cavalry was more like infantry on horseback. Workers and peasants came from a relatively good riding skill, and they were not very good at using sabers. For them, horses were more like a means of transportation, and their main mode of warfare was to rush to the battlefield on horseback and then dismount to fight on foot. Compared to Mamontov's fierce Cossacks, Voroshilov's cavalry was more like a flock of small sheep.

Of course, it does not mean that a cavalry like a Cossack is a good cavalry, from the perspective of the trend of history, such a light cavalry as a Cossack is declining day by day, and it is a foregone conclusion that it will be eliminated. History will no longer give them the opportunity to charge with their sabers, machine guns, artillery, barbed wire and trenches will knock them head-to-head. And the mounted infantry, who uses horses as a means of transportation, in a sense, has mobility and will not blindly send them to death, and it should be said that the survival is a little higher.

However, at this moment, the Cossacks are more useful in the special battlefield of the Russian Civil War, which has a rather thin firepower and considerable mobility. For example, now, the vanguard of the Red Twelfth Army, bypassing those nails, was beaten to the ground by the fierce Cossacks.

In the face of this new situation, Ubolevich was both surprised and confused, surprised that the ancient army of light cavalry was still useful, and puzzled, didn't the experience of the previous war already sentence the cavalry to death? Could it be that the experience of the First World War was wrong?

As an artillery officer, Ubolevich embraced Clausewitz's theory that whoever has the most firepower will be victorious. The experience of the First World War taught him that the light cavalry, which was not much different from streaking, was extremely weak in survivability on the modern battlefield! Faced with a fortified position of barbed wire, trenches and machine guns, it was no longer possible to rush forward. Therefore, he really didn't pay much attention to cavalry, and most of the cavalry in the Red Twelfth Army and the Red Fifth Army were temporarily requisitioned to horses to drag those heavy cannons and machine guns.

But the current battle made Ubolevich scratch his head, not that the artillery and machine guns did not work, it should be said that they were very effective, causing heavy casualties to the enemy. But their problem is that they are too heavy and too inconvenient to maneuver, and they simply cannot catch up with the rapid maneuverability of the battlefield.

Again, using the example of Leonid's troops, he recalled: "The machine guns and artillery were very good, especially the artillery, as long as the artillery brothers fired a few shots at the enemy's position, the white dogs would quickly disperse." The only thing we infantry had to do was swagger to take over the enemy's position. That feeling is so good...... The only thing that disappointed us was though. These big and bulky creatures are too difficult to serve, and the muddy roads of the Don and Volga rivers severely restrict their use, especially when the pace of combat becomes quite fast, and they are even more difficult to get ......"

Leonid smiled bitterly: "For example, after Mamontov's cavalry joined the battle, most comrades loved and hated artillery, loved it because it could greatly kill the enemy's cavalry and destroy the enemy's position, and hated it because it was too cumbersome." We were always asked to stop and wait for them to enter the position, and every time Mamontov's cavalry ran away, they were too late...... This happens not once or twice, but every time! ”

Ubolevich can still find a way to solve the problem of tactics, but he is simply powerless about the problem of weapons and equipment. After this pursuit, the troops were generally full of complaints about the bulky cannons and machine guns, and the soldiers urgently demanded lightweight, mobile and flexible weapons.

Trotsky said solemnly: "The demands of the fighters deserve attention. Judging by the current situation, there were serious shortcomings and problems in the armament of the Red Army...... If we still want to win the battle, we have to improve it! ”

Lenin, for his part, carefully read the telegrams sent by Ubolevich and Frunze. Coincidentally, they all asked the same problem to the central authorities -- in mobile operations, the existing heavy firepower has the problem of not keeping up with the rhythm. They all urgently asked the central government to find a way to improve the problem.

But that's easier said than done. Wanting to be both powerful and lightweight is simply an impossible goal. However, Trotsky did not think that these targets could not be achieved, and he said: "Reducing the weight of the cannon seems unrealistic at the moment, but reducing the weight of the machine gun is achievable!" ”

The four Great Elders looked at him, all wondering what he had to say. However, Trotsky's high opinion is not worth mentioning, because his opinion is: "The existing Maxim is too bulky, and the PK machine gun produced by NORINCO can fully meet the needs of our troops......"

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by Sverdlov: "Comrade Trotsky, there are naturally no problems with the performance of the PK machine gun, but the production capacity and price are the most important issues. First of all, NORINCO can't produce so many machine guns, and secondly, we don't have the money to replace Maxim with PK machine guns! ”

Trotsky, however, did not think so, and he confidently said: "Of course, it is impossible for us to completely replace Maxim with PK machine guns, but we can completely replace Maxim with PK machine guns for front-line assault troops...... As for the issue of capacity and price, I don't think it's a problem! ”

Not only Sverdlov, but also Lenin, Stalin, and the Man in the Iron Mask unanimously showed a bewildered expression. The production capacity of North Industry is there, and it cannot fully meet the change of clothing of the volunteers, as for the price, the production capacity is not large, how can the price be lowered?

In this regard, Trotsky gave the solution: "We can completely produce PK machine guns in Tula. Since the nascent NORINCO can mass-produce PK machine guns, the Tula factory, which has stronger technical strength, can also do it! ”

Lenin and they didn't speak for a while, because this issue had been discussed before, and the performance of the PK machine gun was too ideal, a lot beyond Maxim. They also want to produce a better PK machine gun, but the problem is that there is one thing that is always difficult to negotiate - the issue of royalties.

The patent rights of the PK machine gun belong entirely to NORINCO, and a license must be obtained to produce such machine guns. Previously, Victoria offered a price for not producing a PK machine gun, and the Bolsheviks paid NORINCO £10 in royalties. I have to say that this fee is too high (in fact, it is not too high, when Russia produced Makqin, the patent fee paid to Vickers was much higher than this figure). It's just that with the current financial capacity of Russia, it can't be paid. ）

And the Bolsheviks could not now ignore any royalties as they did with Vickers. After all, in other areas, especially on the food issue, they also need the cooperation of several major shareholders of NORINCO. Copycat PK machine gun, if you don't get it right, it will break the relationship between the two sides, and the price will be even more heavy at that time.

"I think in extraordinary moments, we should use extraordinary methods!" Trotsky was ready to take the PK machine gun this time, "I think that as long as we explain the situation to NORINCO, they should be able to understand what we are doing!" ”

Lenin, they are still silent, because the stakes are too big, and you Trotsky are talking nonsense here, and when something really goes wrong, who will be responsible for wiping your ass?

"I'm willing to take full responsibility for this!" Trotsky immediately issued a military order: "I will personally discuss this matter with the representatives of NORINCO and will do everything possible to convince them!" ”

Of course, this is nonsense, and Lao To's real hole card is: "I think that at present, the relationship between us is very strong, and they have outstanding interests in Russia, and compared with the patent rights of the PK machine gun, the interests in the field of commerce and trade are what they value." Based on this, I think we can force the other side to make concessions! (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to Fat Guy Big 123, Southern Rangers, hzwangdd and Comrade Juventus!