The Baltic Fleet is backwater!

The news was spreading that the great fleet, which had contributed so much to the October Revolution, was finally going to part ways with the Bolsheviks?

The Petrograd Party Committee was shocked, and the Petrograd Soviet was equally shocked. A timid person like Zinoviev was instantly overshadowed by pessimism, and in his eagerness he was already shouting at the party committee meeting: "The defense of Petrograd has become an impossible task, and the priority is to withdraw the Soviets and the party committee from the city safely and decimately!" ”

Such a suggestion will never be accepted by a certain immortal, Petrograd is a place where you can give up if you give up, you pat your ass and give up the arms factory, the arsenal and the millions of people in Petrograd to the White Army?

As soon as he rushed back to Petrograd, Li Xiaofeng threw all the Cheka people into the streets, arrested all suspicious elements who spread rumors and agitated the masses, and if necessary, they could be directly killed, and martial law and curfew were immediately imposed in Petrograd, and all news published by newspapers was not allowed to be printed without the permission of the Cheka.

"What's the use of that!" Zinoviev scoffed at a certain immortal's response, "You are covering your ears and stealing the bell, even the Baltic Fleet has defected, what is the use of us controlling the mouths of the masses?" ”

Li Xiaofeng glared at him and asked angrily, "Who told you that the Baltic Fleet has defected?" ”

Without waiting for the big pie face to answer, Li Xiaofeng slapped the table angrily: "The main forces of the Baltic Fleet are all in Vyborg Bay to support the Volunteer Army in the battle, and before I returned to Petrograd, they were still violently bombarding the Finnish White Army. Is this called mutiny? Think about it with your pig brain. How is this possible! ”

Zinoviev was very unconvinced and said: "How is it impossible. Kronstadt voluntarily cut off contact with us. And according to the reaction of the liaison I sent to Kronstadt, the Red Mountain battery has already declared an uprising, they have joined the ranks of the White Army, does this not tell us a lot? ”

Li Xiaofeng glanced at him and snorted: "In other words, your people did not arrive in Kronstadt at all, and they didn't know the actual situation there at all, and they came to a ridiculous conclusion just by relying on the situation of the Red Mountain Fort. Is that how you do it? ”

Zinoviev was about to say something, but Li Xiaofeng said categorically: "Send a telegram to Basilev in my name, asking him to immediately send a fast destroyer back to Kronstadt to find out what is happening on the island!" ”

As he spoke, he glanced up at Zinoviev and said, "And before that, our first priority is to recapture the Red Mountain Fort!" ”

Zinoviev scoffed: "Recapture the Red Mountain Battery, are you kidding? How can we have the strength to retake a strong battery, we should retreat immediately......"

Before he finished speaking, Li Xiaofeng slapped the matching gun on the table with a snap. Said viciously: "From now on, according to the power granted to me by the central government. Any words and deeds that lightly retreat or flee, or that spread rumors or exaggerate the atmosphere of terror, will be treated as counter-revolutionary acts! ”

Zinoviev: "You ......"

"What are you!" Li Xiaofeng sprayed his face, "Even if it's you, if you dare to talk nonsense about giving up Petrograd, I will be the first to shoot you!" ”

Zinoviev was frightened, and in the face of the hideous immortals, he involuntarily chose to retreat. Of course, in my heart, this thing is eager to see a certain immortal hit a head in the Red Mountain Fort and break the blood.

So what is the situation of the Red Hill Battery, Kronstadt?

Just as Li Xiaofeng said, it is absolutely impossible for the Baltic Fleet to defect to all its members, and after Dembinko's lesson, with Trotsky's efforts, the Baltic Fleet is being reformed little by little, and those Ukrainian sailors and some officers with unclear political tendencies are slowly transferred or eliminated from the fleet. On the whole, the party's control over the fleet was getting stronger and stronger, and it was basically impossible for a large-scale rebellion to occur.

The mutiny of the Hongshan Fort actually had little to do with the Baltic Fleet, mainly because of the problems of the Red Seventh Army stationed there. The 7th Army was responsible for the defense of the Petrograd West Gate. The long-term immobility of the troops had a negative impact on the morale of the troops, and the vigilance of the revolution was greatly weakened. Some outstanding cadres and combat detachments have been successively transferred to support other fronts with more intense struggles.

As the morale of the 7th Army continued to decline, and as certain counter-revolutionaries in the officer class were bought, the rebellion broke out. At the instigation of Liervin, Colonel Lyudvist, chief of staff of the Seventh Army, chose to defect, not only leaking the entire military deployment of the Seventh Army to Yudenich, but also with the cooperation of a small number of "like-minded" reactionary officers, he rebelled against a large number of undetermined soldiers and turned their guns to occupy the Red Hill Battery.

Kronstadt, on the other hand, was not a big problem, although there were certain counter-revolutionary acts, such as the destruction of communication lines and the spread of a large number of rumors within the fleet, but the chaos caused was not too great and was still under control.

It was at this time that Yudenich's vanguard finally broke free from Vorolov's harassment and reached Gatchina, where even the vanguard could see the golden dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral.

It was at this time that Finnish radio preemptively broadcast that Yudenich's troops had captured Petrograd. The Allied ambassadors to Helsinki also made official announcements to their governments. As a result, news of the fall of Red Petrograd spread throughout Europe and even around the world, and a Swedish newspaper even called it "Petrograd Fever Week".

In the midst of this chaos, Trotsky arrived in Petrograd, and in front of the old Toll, it can be said that it was a mess, the Seventh Army had almost completely collapsed, except for a few units that were still desperately resisting Yudenich, the main forces had fled back to Petrograd in a swarm, and were even preparing to continue to flee in the direction of Moscow.

Gatchina had already been captured by Yudenich, and the bald-headed troops were preparing to cut the railway between Petrograd and Moscow, so to speak, Trotsky arrived a little late, and was probably caught by the bald-headed troops.

Petrograd is in a state of panic, everything is going bad; The army was losing ground one after another. The army was defeated. Red Army commanders and fighters look at the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks look at Zinoviev. And Zinoviev is the culprit of all the chaos.

Trotsky later recalled: "Zinoviev was already frightened and stupid. ”

Trotsky constantly ridiculed Zinoviev's performance at that time in his memoirs: "...... When Zinoviev was going well, according to Lenin's words, he could climb to the seventh heaven in the days when 'everything was fine'. But when he was in danger, he lay down on the couch (not figuratively, it was), and sighed for a long time. We have been discovering since 1917. Zinoviev's emotions are always at two extremes, either the seventh heaven or the sofa, and there is never an intermediate state. This was no exception, and when I walked into Zinoviev's office, he was already lying on the sofa...... Everyone feels this and is affected by this emotion everywhere. I called the military garage from Smolny and asked them to send a car. The car came very late. I could sense in the dispatcher's voice a sense of apathy, despair, and doom that had spread among the grassroots administration. ”

At this point, Trotsky seemed to be very proud: "I have decided to take resolute measures. Because the enemy is at the gates. In this case, I can only rely on my train team members - they can be relied on in any difficult conditions. Given a heavy responsibility. This time I sent them to various departments, to inspect the work, to exert pressure, to establish contacts, to replace incompetent personnel, to plug gaps, and so on. Since the formal institutions were no longer trusted, I had to go several levels and go directly to the district party organizations, factories and barracks. Many people believe that cities will change hands in the short term, so they are afraid to show their back. But then people felt from their side that Petrograd would not give up, and if necessary, they would have to fight in the streets to defend her, and their emotions immediately rose. ”

“…… Brave and unafraid of sacrifice are in high spirits and have high morale. Groups of men and women walked out of the factory and into the streets, carrying tools on their shoulders. There were quite a few women with real rifles on their backs or standing near machine guns. The city was divided into districts, each headed by several workers' commands. The most important areas are covered with thistles. Artillery positions were determined, the firing range was determined in advance. About 60 artillery pieces were erected in the squares and at important intersections, all of which were camouflaged. Fortifications were built in ditches, small street parks, walls, fences and houses, trenches were dug on the outskirts of the city and along the Neva River, and the entire southern outskirts of the city became a fortress. Barricades were also built on many streets and squares. From workers' housing quarters to barracks, logistical units and forward positions, there is a new atmosphere. ”

At this point, Trotsky became more and more proud: "I have issued a special order that no one shall lie about the military situation, that the hasty retreat of the troops shall be described as a stubborn battle, that the position has fallen but that no one shall report it, and that anyone who lies about the military situation shall be punished as a rebellion." Mistakes are allowed militarily, but there is no possibility of cheating, deception and self-deception...... When a retreating force almost arrived at the headquarters at Aleksandrovka, I mounted a horse at my side and drove the troops around me back. At first, there was chaos, no one knew what was going on, and some people continued to retreat. I had to ride a horse and chase them back one by one......"

"It was only then that I discovered that my herald Kozlov, a veteran of peasant origin on the outskirts of Moscow, had been running after him. He was so excited, with a revolver in his hand, that while chasing the stragglers, he shouted: 'Don't be afraid, boys, Comrade Trotsky is directing us .......'"

“…… The stragglers saw me on horseback, and at that moment I felt their eyes change, no longer confused, no longer confused...... The soldier turned his head and began to move forward, no less quickly than the retreat of the right man. Not a single fighter was left behind. After walking for about two miles, bullets began to whistle in people's ears, and several people fell, but not a single soldier retreated and fled again...... This scene made me deeply feel that I would be able to hold Petrograd! ”

To tell the truth, Trotsky was quite brilliant in the battle to defend Petrograd, and he stabilized the hearts of the people in time and played the role of a pinnacle in the sea. But in the battle to defend Petrograd, he was not the only one who stood out, and many others performed no less than him, but they were not reflected in his memoirs.

For example, before Trotsky arrived in Petrograd, it was his Cheka who first began to stabilize the situation, capturing and executing a number of counter-revolutionaries who spread rumors, spread rumors, and absconded in fear of the enemy, so that the situation in Petrograd did not deteriorate further. It laid a solid foundation for Trotsky to stabilize the overall situation.

Li Xiaofeng is not just politically aggressive. Militarily, it is even more capable of turning the tide. The Red Hill Battery, located in the Gulf of Finland, resembles a thorn. If this vital fort is not recaptured. When Yudenich's army reached Petrograd, the heavy artillery on the batteries could blow Petrograd to pieces. It can be said that it was possible to hold Petrograd only after the recapture of the Red Hill Battery.

And Li Xiaofeng did this, while Trotsky was still on the way, when the main forces of the 2nd and 3rd regiments of the Volunteer Army had not yet fully arrived in Petrograd. With only one battalion of troops, a certain immortal took advantage of the darkness of night to recapture this vital fort with a beautiful surprise attack. Colonel Lyudvist, who led the mutiny, and his henchmen were hanged on the Hermitage Square.

The removal of the threat of the Red Hill Fort not only saved the hundred-year-old city of Petrograd from shelling, but more importantly, restored the connection between Kronstadt and Petrograd. The sailors of the Baltic Fleet, having received the correct instructions, immediately organized and in a very short time sent 4,000 sailors to Petrograd.

These valuable sailors further stabilized the situation in Petrograd, and they immediately went to the front line to stop Yudenich, and it was the addition of these sailors that allowed the collapsed Seventh Army to finally regain its footing, otherwise what was the point of Trotsky arriving in Petrograd? It's just an empty city, how can it resist Yudenich?

There was more to a certain immortal than that, when Gatchina was lost, when Yudenich's troops were directed at Petrograd. On the Pulkovo Heights, the rearmost line of defence, Trotsky's hissing was a morale boost. The critical moment of trying to make the Red Army soldiers burst out with the most powerful force and fight Yudenich to the death. Li Xiaofeng arrived with his volunteers.

Later military history described the battle that took place in just a few simple words: December 11 was a crucial day. The troops retreated to the Pulkovo Heights. Going back any further means that the battle is going on inside the city. Until then, the White offensive had met little resistance. On this day, the Red Army gained a foothold on the Pulkovo Line and put up stubborn resistance. The enemy offensive was stifled. On the 12th, the Red Army switched to a counteroffensive. Yudenich immediately pulled up the reserves, strengthened the defensive line, and the battle was fierce. By the evening of the 13th, the Red Army had recaptured Pavlovsk. At the same time, the friendly 15 Corps began to advance from the south towards Petrograd, threatening the rear and right flank of the White Army. So the tide of the war took a turn for the better.

The whole text is almost a brushstroke, and there is no mention of which "Red Army" unit held Pulkovo, and which "Red Army" pushed Yudenich back head-on. On the contrary, it was the Red 15th Army, which had been playing soy sauce before, that got a chance to "show its face".

Of course, it is normal not to mention it, because it was not the "Red Army" that drove Yudenich away at all, but the volunteer army stationed in Finland. This unit, originally called the Border Police Force, had nothing to do with the Red Army and was not even under the command of the Military Commission and the All-Russian Field Command. This was quite embarrassing for the Red Army, and the performance of the Red Seventh Army was really bad before, whether it was for shame or for political needs, it was an inevitable choice to dilute the image of the "Volunteer Army".

However, because of its outstanding and eye-catching performance, the "Volunteer Army" also won considerable honor for a certain immortal and the unit itself. After the repulsion of Yudenich, after the discussion and decision of the Central Committee, the honorary title of "1st Guards Division" of the 1st Division of the Volunteer Army was awarded, and a certain immortal was also awarded the first Order of the Red Banner.

What's funnier is that Yudenich is also disappointed that this time he fell short, but the big bald head is also confused as to which unit defeated him. On the basis of his own conjectures and the relevant reports of the Bolsheviks, he took it for granted in his memoirs: "Trotsky arrived at the Petrograd front on December 9. His vigorous and resolute style quickly swept away the chaos of the Red Army. A few hours before the fall of Gatchina, he had tried to stop my attack, but seeing that this was no longer possible, he hurried out of the city and hurried to Tsarskoye in a vain attempt to fortify it. ”

"At that time, the large reinforcements of the Red Bandits had not yet arrived, but Trotsky had gathered the cadets of Petrograd and mobilized all the men of the city, and cruelly drove the hastily organized rabble into positions with machine guns...... The fact that this executioner, as always, used iron-blooded means to kill the hopes of the Russian people to resist the tyranny of the Bolsheviks made me understand that if you want to overthrow the tyrannical rule of the Bolsheviks, you must be more iron-blooded and more brutal than them...... The only thing that can save Russia is violence! ”

When Sverdlov saw this so-called "most authentic war memory", which was not much better than the literature of the stall, he immediately called a certain immortal, and he said in a mocking tone: "Poor Yudenich, he did not even know who had defeated him, and began to write his memoirs...... Andrey, why don't you also write a memoir and tell the world the truth about the defense of Petrograd, so that some people can't continue to confuse the public......" (to be continued......

PS: Bow and thank you to hzwangdd, Juventus and Comrade Fat Lu Fei!