It was not only Trotsky who needed to endure, but Tukhachevsky, thousands of miles away in Tsaritsyn, also encountered considerable difficulties, and in the face of these artificial difficulties, he could only endure.

"I have been working in the South-Western Front for some time in place of Comrade Yegorov," Tukhachevsky wrote in his diary, "and I was not convinced at that time when I heard Comrade Trotsky say that it would be a great challenge to work in the South-Western Front. But when I arrived in Tsaritsyn and met with Stalin, Budyonny, and Kuibyshev, I realized how naïve my previous optimism was! ”

Writing this, Tukhachevsky sighed faintly, and then continued to write: "First of all, the situation on the southwestern front is quite bad, after several months of high-intensity continuous fighting, the casualties are very heavy, even after continuous reorganization, the southwestern front is still very weak. Take the 1st Cavalry Corps, for example, which had 9,000 cavalry, more than 5,000 infantry, and more than 20,000 horses when it came from the Caucasus...... As for the rest of the infantry units, the casualties were even more staggering, typhoid fever, colds, famines, and the wrong way of fighting were very efficient in destroying the Southwestern Front! ”

Tukhachevsky stopped the tip of his pen again, he bit the cap of his pen, as if he was deliberating, and after a long time he wrote: "It may be fortunate that the morale of the troops is not bad, and every soldier, even if they are not well fed or clothed, has never had the slightest doubt about victory...... Of course, Comrade Stalin's commissar played the most important role in this, although I personally would be very reluctant to see such a role...... The reason is simple. The only way the commissars could boost their morale was alcohol, whether vodka or medical ethanol. Anything they could find with the smell of alcohol was sent to the appetite of the front-line fighters...... The good news is that it does boost morale, the bad news is. Alcohol poisoning, deaths and injuries due to deep drunkenness are very regrettable......"

"Of course, worse than the problems caused by alcoholism and alcoholism, our middle and senior commanders simply do not understand the severity of this problem. I used to discuss this with Stalin, with Budyonny, and with Kuibyshev. Comrade Stalin did not care at all about this, and even thought that I was unfounded; Comrade Budyonny was very angry, and thought that I was more worried about alcohol than about the White Army, and that this was the most typical bureaucratic and counter-revolutionary act; As for Comrade Kuibyshev, well, this comrade is not very talkative and gives a very dull (even gloomy) feeling. Forgive me for using this word to describe my comrades and comrades-in-arms, but I really feel that this comrade is like a zombie in the grave)...... Comrade Kuibyshev just didn't have an accurate opinion on this, so much so that the discussion of this topic did not lead to any results, and I could only reflect it to the Military Commission. ”

"That stinky boy is a nuisance!" Budyonny poured a sip of vodka, touched his mouth fiercely and complained to Stalin, "As soon as it comes up, it will be chattered, today it will be changed, and tomorrow it will be changed again." The only pastime for the lads, and the only vodka that can maintain morale, are lashed out. I don't like this bastard! ”

Stalin didn't gulp down alcohol, even when he had a bottle full of fine Finnish vodka in front of him. His back rested on the back of his chair, and his heavy shoulders crunched it. It is very doubtful that in the next second, this piece of furniture will fall apart.

Stalin leaned back in his chair with a blank face, smoking his pipe quietly, and no one knew what he was thinking. I don't even know if he's thinking about it. It seemed that all he cared about was the pipe in his hand, and as for other things. It has long been kicked out of the brain.

Smoke spewed down his throat, a thick cloud. With a magical-like effect, it makes him even more elusive.

Putting down the pipe, Stalin asked a completely unrelated question: "What do you think of Kuibyshev?" ”

In this regard, Budyonny was completely unprepared and did not understand why the question of Kuibyshev should be discussed, as a big boss, his political sensitivity was a little less sensitive, and compared to his old partner Voroshilov, he was even more ...... More coarse ore.

He couldn't keep up with Stalin's train of thought at all, and naturally he couldn't understand the true meaning of Stalin's question, so he just replied as if he could: "Well, that's it, a stuffy gourd, and a little pride of a cultured person, I don't like him!" ”

Stalin's brow furrowed slightly, so faint that Budyonny, who was already three points drunk, did not notice it at all, so he did not know that Comrade Iron had lowered his opinion of him a little bit.

Yes, Stalin's question is meaningful, and in all fairness, he does not like Tukhachevsky, who is about to make three fires as soon as he takes office, in any case he is a member of the Politburo and a member of the Military Commission, and Tukhachevsky must take into account his feelings when he lights the fire.

And it is obvious that Tukhachevsky did not have this consciousness, he really regarded himself as the boss of the Southwestern Front, and Stalin as an assistant sent to him by the Central Committee, giving orders in the tone of superiors to subordinates.

The iron comrades who attach great importance to the dignity and inferiority of the rank are naturally very unhappy and unhappy, you must know that Tukhachevsky's predecessor Yegorov was not so arrogant, and before that, whether in the old army of Tsarist Russia or in the Red Army, Yegorov's status was higher than that of the little hairy boy Tukhachevsky! Undoubtedly, this further exacerbated Stalin's dissatisfaction with Tukhachevsky.

However, Stalin did not express this dissatisfaction directly, and the reason was very simple, it was up to the owner to beat the dog, and in any case, Khachevsky was Trotsky's confidant, and he was parachuted in by the central commander-in-chief after making numerous mistakes up and down the Southwestern Front. At this time, it is not impossible to directly slap Tukhachevsky in the face, but it is not possible.

Just imagine, before Lenin took a lot of effort to save him Stalin, and it was easy to make things small, and then you Stalin had to be a man with his tail between his legs. It would be arrogant to go directly to Tukhachevsky, who was sent by the central authorities. That is, if you don't take the decisions of the Central Committee into account, even the mentor will be crazy at that time.

Stalin did not want to provoke his mentor. The last time in order to save him, the old man was already half angry and arrested him into the office and scolded him for two hours. That feeling of spit drying out is not good at all!

It is precisely for this reason that on the issue of how to deal with Tukhachevsky, we must be more cautious, and we must not make a bold move like Mironov before, but must sharpen slowly with a small knife.

And to play well with this kind of small knife, if you want to cut the flesh on Tukhachevsky piece by piece, this is not something that Budyonny, who can only use a big horse knife, can do. Even Stalin himself was not up to the task, he was better at grasping the general direction in terms of strategy, and he did not have that kind of meticulous work when it came to details.

Previously, this kind of work was the responsibility of Mikoyan or Zhdanov, and Stalin only had to listen to their advice and then make a choice. And now, neither Zhdanov nor Mikoyan is in the South-Western Front, and this is the biggest lesson that Stalin learned from the last mistake. It's really not good to have no one around to give advice, and if you look at the idea of letting Voroshilov and Budyonny, the two big bosses, help you come up with ideas, and you can poke out a big basket.

Now everyone understands why Stalin asked Kuibyshev first, right? As Budyonny said, this is a man of culture. Hehe, let's put it this way, cultural people can be completely replaced by another word - people who are good at yin people.

Stalin had not understood it before. Why did Lenin send Kuibyshev and not anyone else? For example, how cool it would be to send either Mikoyan or Zhdanov!

It should be said that Stalin's political wisdom was good. It quickly figured out that it wasn't that the Mentor couldn't send those two conspirators, but that he couldn't. With those two here, Tukhachevsky will probably be very badly overshadowed, and this will greatly anger Trotsky, after all, the intention of sending Tukhachevsky to the Southwestern Front is quite obvious, and judging from the current situation, it is not appropriate to provoke this guy too much.

In this case, Kuibyshev is very suitable, not only to help the Yin people, but not to wear the same pants as him Stalin, and not to let them arbitrarily entertain Khachevsky.

After figuring out the various joints in the arrangement of the tutor, Stalin had to sigh from the bottom of his heart, Lenin was indeed better than him, and he could be regarded as far-sighted. His little trick is child's play compared to the political wisdom of his mentor.

Of course, after thinking about it, I figured it out, but for Stalin, the Southwestern Front was the foundation of his life, the capital to stand on the political stage in the future, and he would not hand it over to anyone else, especially to the hated Trotsky.

That is, in any case he is going to suppress and exclude Tukhachevsky, which is impossible to negotiate. However, the arrangement of the Mentor is obvious, and Kuibyshev is insurance, a valve to ensure that he cannot cross the red line. If he wants to break through Kuibyshev's obstruction, there are only two ways.

The first way is to buy and win over Kuibyshev and turn him into his own. If Kuibyshev could be on his side, it would be easy.

However, the consequences of this are not predictable, and it would be self-defeating if Kuibyshev did not accept his wooing. Even if you take a step back and say that Kuibyshev is willing to do it with him, how can the mentor explain it? After all, the Mentor's meaning is very clear - it is necessary to toss Tukhachevsky, but it must be measured and must not be excessive.

Blatantly going against the intention of the mentor and digging the foot of the wall behind his old man's back, will this anger his old man?

It can be seen that the first method has all kinds of uncertainties, and if it is not done well, it is a chicken flying egg beating. Either try the second way, simply, do it or escalate this Kuibyshev and let him cool off!

With Stalin's control of the Southwestern Front, it is not impossible to do Kuibyshev with all his might, but it also means that he betrayed his mentor, what is the nature of this, what the consequences, Stalin knows best.

It can even be said that this method is a bad idea compared to the first method, and if Stalin had not had a brain cramp, he should never have taken this path!

Speaking of which, let's go back to Stalin's question, ostensibly he was asking how Budyonny Kuibyshev was, but what he really wanted to ask was: "Old Bu, do I have a better choice?" ”

Obviously. The sluggish Budyonny did not grasp the intentions of the leadership very well, but said that Kuibyshev was like that. What else did not like Kuibyshev. Truth be told, it's a question and answer. It's like the donkey's lips don't match the horse's mouth. How can you say that Stalin will be satisfied?

Not to mention Stalin, who was full of trouble finding faults, let's first talk about Kuibyshev, who he was worried about. As a man of culture, he is not necessarily much more satisfied with Tsaritsyn's current state than Tukhachevsky. For example, the problem of alcoholism is a problem, Xiaotu saw it, and Kuibyshev also saw it.

However, these two men showed completely different ways of dealing with the same matter, and Tukhachevsky roared when he didn't like it, and the commander of the Southwestern Front didn't sit firmly in his position and hurriedly expressed his opinions and made demands. On the bright side, he is proactive. Be prepared to seize the initiative and assert your authority from the start. This is a conscientious and responsible table xiàn.

But on the bad side, it's a bit rushed, a little disregarded of the actual situation. Of course, this is not to say that the army does not need discipline, nor that alcoholism is justified, but it is a question of measure and means.

Objectively speaking, there is indeed a problem with the military discipline of the Southwestern Front, and there is also a problem of alcoholism. This does need to be corrected. The problem is that when and how to correct it is an extremely strict problem.

First of all, the situation of the Red Army at that time was not good, and the battle had been raging for a long time. The losses are also relatively large, and morale is generally more problematic at this time. As commanders and political workers, we must ensure that morale does not collapse. And in the material conditions of the time. It's certainly quite difficult to do that.

Imagine that you can't eat enough in your stomach, will you still have energy?

And for polar bears who naturally love to drink two sips. Alcohol is undoubtedly the best placebo and prize, and a bottle of low-quality vodka can bring a company to life on the verge of collapse. It can make the brave Red Army soldiers fearless, and make the fearless Red Army soldiers invincible. Is there a cheaper stimulant than this?

Why didn't Egorov raise the issue of alcohol when he was in office? Is it that he doesn't know? That's because he knows the above truth, and he must deal with problems flexibly in a specific state.

Tukhachevsky, however, did not know this, seeing only the negative effects of alcoholism, but not the crucial role of alcohol in morale. In a sense, he is still a rookie, he only knows how to read from the book, and he has the unique rigidity of the academic school!

To put it bluntly, Tukhachevsky handled the problem too mechanically, and at the beginning of his tenure, he was a little arrogant in dealing with a sensitive issue without any prestige.

In this way, the officers of the original Southwestern Front can stand it? Will you feel comfortable again? In other words, you will not have a good impression of this new hairy child, driven by the rebellious mentality, they will unite more closely around Stalin and others, and they will not be spearheaded by Tukhachevsky.

And Kuibyshev is not so stupid, he is not so sharp and aggressive, on the contrary he is very low-key, the big guy also sees it, and even Budyonny says that he does not like to talk. It's right if you don't speak, you don't understand anything, and you talk about it, which doesn't help solve anything.

In order for a culture to be formed, there must be a common interest group pushing it, and Tukhachevsky did not even understand who he was going to face and who he was going to fight against.

Truth be told, if it weren't for Trotsky standing behind him, he would not just be treated coldly, but beaten up by the drunken soldiers and officers, and if he didn't get the hell out of the way.

In this respect, Tukhachevsky was fortunate to have such a noble person as Lao Tuo to protect him. On the other hand, he is extremely unfortunate because he lacks experience in commanding at the grassroots level, and his ability to deal with practical problems is limited when he ascends in a helicopter. Once the old trust who protected him falls, the mistakes he made because of his lack of experience, and the people who have been guilty, can tear them to shreds in minutes!

Kuibyshev has plenty of experience at the grassroots level, and he has a good understanding of the curves, and knows what can be done right away and what can't be done right away. Let's just say that the difference between Kuibyshev and Tukhachevsky is the difference between politicians and soldiers. The political family must take care of everyone, but the soldiers in the straight line can't manage so much.

Therefore, Kuibyshev did not express his stance too much on this issue, and told the officers and soldiers of the Southwestern Front in an attitude that was neither cold nor hot: "There is indeed a problem with alcoholism, and I am indeed against it, but I understand your actual needs, and I feel that this problem is completely unnecessary to be solved immediately, and it can be changed when the situation in Tsaritsyn changes radically." ”

Note that Kuibyshev's so-called fundamental change refers not only to the improvement of the war situation, but also to the deterioration of the war situation. If the situation deteriorates to the point where it is necessary to stop drinking, he can also show the courage to solve the problem with thunderous means.

I have to say that Kuibyshev is much more clever than Tukhachevsky, and the means and methods of the two people to deal with the problem are not at the same level at all, to put it mildly, the genius Tukhachevsky is not qualified to carry shoes for Kuibyshev on this issue!

But then again, although Kuibyshev is very powerful, he is not in very good shape at this time...... (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to terde, Juventus and comrade Potato in seconds!