Sochi, a small city on the Black Coast, is widely known to the world that may have originated from a poorly successful Winter Olympics... This small city near the border between Russia and Georgia was inconspicuous in the past few hundred years of history, but on July 15, 1919, when the smoke of Poland had just disappeared, it suddenly occupied the front page headlines.

On this day, Wrangel officially replaced Denikin as the new commander-in-chief of the "Russian Volunteer Army". Denikin, who had previously firmly controlled the situation, had to resign from all positions in a mess and go to Turkey to "cultivate".

This change was so sudden that the Red Army was not prepared for any mentality. After all, Denikin's performance was not bad in the previous period. Under the attack and encirclement of the Southwest Front and the Eastern Front, the main force was still brought out of the encirclement. To be honest, this was quite difficult.

Moreover, just three days before Denikin was forced to resign and "cultivate", the Allies were still praising him, believing that he had laid a solid military foundation for future anti-communism and saving the country.

So why did Denikin step down so unexpectedly? The simplest reason is because this is politics. Politics only talks about interests, not emotions.

Denikin did a good job in the previous period, but it was just good. After the destruction of Kolchak, the Allies had high hopes for him, hoping that he could protect the Ural city from Chalizin, defeat the Red Army's attack in this area, and maintain the situation that continues to threaten the direction of Moscow.

It should be said that Denikin also hoped that he could do this, but unfortunately, there was a big gap between ideals and reality. With the destruction of Kolchak, the pressure of the two fronts was applied to Denikin's troops at the same time. He was not a military genius. He could naturally not withstand it.

Of course, most people in the world also saw that he could not withstand it, and it was impossible to withstand it. If his troops continued to fight hard according to the requirements of the Allies, there would be only one way - that is, they would be annihilated!

From this point of view, it seems that Denikin did nothing wrong? He transferred very smartly and almost jumped out of the encirclement. No matter how you look at it, it is a good thing, right?

Perhaps this is indeed a good thing for the White Army under Denikin. But for the Allies, Denikin's approach is not very acceptable.

Why? This has to be analyzed from the international situation. When Denikin led his troops to move in, it was the most anxious time on the Polish battlefield. At that time, the Allies received bad news, either the Poles were surrounded and annihilated, or the Germans refused to surrender completely at the negotiating table.

For the Allies, it takes time to make the Germans surrender as soon as possible and save the crisis in Poland. They need someone to make sacrifices, hoping that someone can continue to drag millions of Red Army troops into the Volga and Caspian Sea areas. In this way, the Bolsheviks have no extra ability to export the revolution. This will help the Allies stabilize the situation in Poland and will win valuable time for them to fully interfere in the Russian Revolution.

And how did Denikin do it? He did not stubbornly fight with the Red Army as required by the Allies. Instead, he ran away decisively. Although he brought out the main force of the White Army and preserved his strength for future counterattacks, this was not of great significance to the Allies. The Allies now only need time. They hope that someone could cause trouble for the Bolsheviks and make them unable to look west. The negotiations with the Germans should not be disturbed by too much external forces. After they resolved the German issue, the millions of troops before could advance eastward without the need for the white army like a mob to destroy the Bolsheviks.

Obviously, Denikin didn't think so. Perhaps according to the Allies' plan, the Bolsheviks could be eliminated, but what are the benefits for Russia? After dismembering Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, will the Allies' army restore the territory of Russia's Tsarist Russia era like a royal division? Will it actively safeguard Russia's territory and sovereignty integrity?

Denikin doesn't think the Allies are living Lei Fengs. They may be happy to cut Russia into eight pieces and completely chop the polar bears into meat sauce. As a "real" Russian, a traditional patriot, Denikin does not allow such a situation.

He believed that if Russia wants to maintain its sovereignty and integrity, the first thing to bear is to retain a Russian armed force. Only with the gun in hand can Russia bargain with the Allies and avoid being caught by fish.

This also determines that Denikin will never sacrifice his troops to buy time for the Allies, and he is not that stupid!

In a sense, Denikin was also an idealist. He adhered to the last principle and made the final struggle to preserve Russia's sovereignty. Indeed, he had to pay a heavy political price for this decision.

Especially when the situation in Poland deteriorates sharply and the Germans are stuck, he will inevitably become a punching bag. The Allies will not allow a guy who opposes them to continue to control the White Army's power.

Flanger seized this opportunity. He was already causing trouble for Denikin and was constantly poaching and preparing to take over, but finally got what he wanted.

I have to say that Denikin was a little tragic. He tried his best to safeguard Russia's sovereignty and retained a living force for Russia. If it weren't for him, the White Army would never have broken out of the siege and fled to Sochi.

But now, these White Army officers forgot that it was Denikin who took them out of heaven. All they saw were the aid of the Allies, only banknotes and food. So not only did they fail to continue to support the "savior" Denikin, but instead turned against him and gave Denikin a fatal blow.

With the support of the Allies and the betrayal of the army, Denikin quickly became a lonely man. Logically speaking, he had every reason to be angry and complained at that moment, but he did not.

Late at night on July 14, he had a last secret conversation with Flanger in his office. This was the last face-to-face conversation between the two and the last meeting in their lives. A few days later, Denikin was taken to Turkey and then headed to the United States to settle down. Flanger defeated Tbilisi a few months later. He swallowed a gun and committed suicide under heavy siege.

That night, what Denikin and Flanger had actually talked about became a topic of interest to historians because Denikin did not mention that night in his memoirs. He was ashamed of the night when he was forced to leave politics.

So some people said that Denikin scolded Flanger, while others said that Denikin didn't say anything to Flanger. The two sides just looked at each other speechlessly for more than ten minutes and then parted ways.

So did these two people speak? Actually, this is not a historical mystery. One person has always known the answer, but in his lifetime, he could not say it because of the need for politics and confidentiality. It was not until after his death that the secret was revealed.

In his secret memoir, the ace spy Alexander Lovic wrote: "On July 14, the weather was extremely dull, without a cloud or a trace of wind, so depressing that it almost fainted. At 8 pm, I accompanied Frankel to meet Denikin. Under the pressure of the officers, the commander-in-chief had to announce his departure. Along the way, Frankel was in high spirits. It seemed that he was completely unaffected by this damn ghost weather. Along the way, he kept talking about how bright the future would be. How would he turn the tide..."

"When he arrived at the headquarters, Flanger hid his joy and excitement. He deliberately raised his face and pretended to be very calm and calm, but he almost twisted his feet when he got out of the car... Compared with Flanger's excitement, the atmosphere in the headquarters was dead silent. Several of Denikin's staff packed their luggage and prepared to pack and leave. Denikin's orderly soldiers ran in and out, constantly loading the former commander-in-chief's personal belongings into the car. I could see that the people in the headquarters were looking at Flanger with a Mo Yan mood. Maybe they were thinking about how to please the new master?"

"Donnikin met us in the office on the second floor. I would never forget the scene at that moment. The floor of the office was full of paper and the documents on the desk were scattered all over the floor. On the other side, there was a bottle of vodka and an empty wine glass. I knew that Dunnikin didn't drink much, but I could feel the remaining amount of alcohol in the bottle and the smell of alcohol on him. This time, Dunnikin probably knew that his political life was over..."

"Flanger was a little nervous. He seemed to be at a loss, as if he didn't know how to face Dunnikin. To be honest, this made me very interesting. I thought he was not afraid of Dunnikin at all... Flanger and Dunnikin looked at each other for at least five minutes. The smell of gunpowder in the air was very strong. I doubt whether these two people would draw their guns and shoot each other in the next second..."

"Donnikin calmed down first, he took a deep breath and spoke: 'Flanger, you'd better remember clearly, you are a Russian first, and you must first protect the interests of Russia!' After saying this, Deonnikin walked out from behind the desk with great strides, and then left without looking back..."

So did Flanger remember Denikin's advice? I'm afraid he only remembered part of it, because Flanger soon found that the position of the commander-in-chief was not so easy to do, and his will was always difficult to implement at the grassroots level. The officers always had opinions and always liked to sing opposite tunes. What's more terrifying is that the Allies never took him as the commander-in-chief seriously. In the eyes of those big hooligans, he was just a dog they raised...

"Given that the White Bandits have suffered a major blow, they can no longer threaten the Don and the lower reaches of the Volga River. The focus of our military work in the next stage must be shifted toward Belarus and Ukraine, and the best way to resume production as soon as possible!"

Trotsky's real intention was probably not to resume production in Belarus and Ukraine. His intention was probably to march towards Central and Eastern Europe, and let the Red Army burn the old order there with the flames of revolution. Resuming production was just an excuse.

Lenin had no objection to the transfer of the main force of the Red Army into Belarus and Ukraine, but he had more careful consideration of how many troops to be drawn: "It is inevitable to draw troops, but it is necessary to see that the main force of the White Bandit Army still exists. In the Caucasus region, they can easily obtain support from imperialism, and it is not ruled out that they will recover. So on the ground of caution, I think that the transfer of troops should not be too many, and should maintain strong military pressure. It is best to fight another annihilation battle in the Caucasus region, and then transfer the main force of the White Army to other battlefields!"

Trotsky was a little angry about this. He asked excitedly: "The Central Committee said before that winning the Battle of Chalizin would shift the strategic focus. But now we have won. Why should we hesitate? The White Army is already at the end of our journey. We should pay more attention to international issues. Only by solving international issues can the future of the revolution be guaranteed!"

Lenin had to explain patiently: "The Central Committee's previous resolution was to fight to eliminate or severely damage the main force of the White Army. But now we have not achieved this goal. The White Army escaped from the encirclement, and their main force still exists and may rekindle at any time. How can we ignore it?"

Trotsky couldn't listen, and he emphasized: "Information shows that in this venue, Tukhachevsky led the Southwest Front and the Eastern Front to annihilate at least 100,000 White Bandits, which is almost half the strength of the Denikin bandits. Isn't this a brilliant victory? Oh, by the way, I also forgot that because of this crushing defeat, Denikin had been forced to step down. The bandits with him as the core have been completely disbanded!"

Why did Trotsky emphasize that he had severely damaged the Denikin Group? This was not only for his promotion of the World Revolution, but also for Tukhachevsky. Before, Tukhachevsky was given a certain criticism (led by Stalin). He finally determined the nature of the result of this battle and gave Tukhachevsky a positive evaluation. Now Lenin's words undoubtedly imply that Tukhachevsky's achievements were all water, which Trotsky could not allow, so he must insist on this.

However, Trotsky insisted that Stalin must object. He immediately said: "As the political commissar of the Southwest Front Army, I understand the actual situation of the battle. Although I have won, we annihilated some small bandit troops that were unable to escape. Among the 100,000 people, there were very few combatants, and most of them were the families and slaves of the bandit army..."

"I firmly disagree with this!" Trotsky quickly interrupted Stalin and said flatly: "What we annihilate are tangible and well-documented counter-revolutionaries, and this is unquestionable!"

In fact, Trotsky's words sounded guilty because he changed his concept. Stalin emphasized non-combatants, but he generally called him counter-revolutionaries. If he only emphasized the counter-revolutionary attributes, then the "White Bandit Army" that Chika eliminated in this year was probably much more than the regular Red Army troops.

However, Lenin did not want to be serious about Trotsky on this issue, because it would probably trigger a new round of internal struggle. It was only after it was finally cooled down by internal struggle, but he didn't want it to be for only one month.

So he said: "Victory is naturally irreproachable, but it is worth pondering the results of consolidating victory. Our enemies still have considerable combat power, and this is unquestionable, so we cannot underestimate the enemy's carelessness!"

As he said that, he glanced at Trotsky meaningfully, and then said: "My opinion is that the Southwest Front Army will continue to encircle and suppress the remnants of the White Army. Part of the Eastern Front Army will turn to the far east and west Siberia and continue to chase and annihilate the remnants of Kolchak, while the main force will turn to Ukraine and Belarus, and cooperate with Comrade Fulongzhi to quell the local rebellion!"

Trotsky knew exactly what Lenin meant when he looked at him, but he was really dissatisfied with Lenin's arrangement. According to his opinion, the main force of the Eastern Front Army went directly to Belarus and Ukraine. In addition to the main force of the Southwest Front Army, the remaining troops would be transferred to the Far East and Siberia. In Trotsky's view, this was the clear approach of being the primary and secondary!

After thinking for a while, he continued to insist: "Is it too wasteful for all the Southwest Front Army to stay in the Caucasus?"

Lenin naturally knew what Lao Tau was planning, but he did not intend to give in: "The Southwest Front must face not only the remnants of the Denikin bandits, but we must be mentally prepared for direct military intervention by the Allies!"

Trotsky knew that Lenin would not give in to the issue of the Southwest Front, so he could only make an effort on the Eastern Front: "A part of the Eastern Front is already chasing and annihilated Kolchak. Judging from the current situation, Comrade Brusinov and Comrade Brucher have done a very good job and can be trusted. I don't think it is necessary to strengthen the forces in the Far East and Siberia. The Eastern Front that is fighting in the Caucasus should be transferred to Ukraine and Belarus!"

Lenin could only agree with Trotsky's opinion. He knew very well that this comrade was too obsessed with the World Revolution and had been waiting for this moment for quite a long time. If he did not agree, he would not have to do anything later. The Trotskyists and the Leninists continued to argue and quarrel!

"Then let's follow Comrade Trotsky's opinion!" Lenin said in a sigh.

Trotsky was waiting for this sentence, and he immediately said: "Since that's the case, I suggest that the Eastern Front Army in the Caucasus region be organized into a brand new Front Army. Well, let them be responsible for the battle situation in Belarus!"

Trotsky's meaning is very obvious. He is trying to compete for the command of the troops. He does not want to hand over his Eastern Front to Fulongzhi's command. He hopes that Tukhachevsky will personally take charge of the newly established Belarusian Front.

Lenin looked at him and nodded: "Yes, Tukhachevsky is competent for this task, so Comrade Stalin will be the commander-in-chief of the Southwest Front for the time being!" (To be continued, please search for Astronomy, the novel is better, updated and faster!

ps: Bow and thank Million Thirty, the useless man and comrade Juventus!
Chapter completed!