The Rise of the Third Reich

Hersman did not leave Moscow for a visit as arranged by Lenin, because Comrade Lenin suddenly fell ill.

"Ludwig, Lenin is ill!"

The door of Hersman's suite at the National Hotel in Moscow was knocked open early in the morning by Mrs. Kollontai who came in a hurry. Kollontai hugged Hessmann very warmly, and then whispered in his ear a surprising news.

"He had a stroke! Just yesterday afternoon..."

Kollontai's voice was very soft, obviously not wanting to be heard by the people around him.

Lenin actually had a stroke! Hersman was also shocked. Although he knew that Lenin would not live long, his death in August 1920 was beyond his expectation.

"Come with me now to the Kremlin." Mrs. Kollontai did not follow Hessman into the room, but directly asked Hessman to go to the Kremlin with her. They then walked out of the main entrance of the hotel together, and a black car was already parked on the side of the road. The two of them got into the back seat of the car together.

"Natalie, go to the Kremlin!" Kollontai ordered. Only then did Hessman discover that the driver was Natalie Lesinskaya.

"Is Comrade Lenin in good condition?" Hersman asked tentatively. He knew a little bit about medicine and knew that this stroke should be the beginning of a series of strokes and that the current situation might not be too serious.

"It's okay," Kollontai frowned, "but his health is related to the safety of the entire country and must be kept secret..."

"I know, I know." Hersman nodded repeatedly, "When I return to Germany, I will send the best and most reliable doctor over."

"Thank you." Kollontai nodded gratefully to Hessman. This is also one of the reasons why she came to Hersmann - in this era, Germany has the best doctors!

"So, can I ask what triggers a stroke?" Hersman asked. Yesterday, he noticed that Lenin's condition was not good, as if there was a big stone weighing on his heart.

"Kiev!" Kollontai gritted his teeth, "We were defeated by the white Polish army in Kiev..."

The Battle of Kyiv was actually defeated!

It turns out that in the past three or four months, on the battlefield in right-bank Ukraine, the Red Army seemed to have the advantage. It not only surrounded Kiev, but also liberated many small and medium-sized cities. But they were never able to destroy the main force of the Polish White Army outside Kiev - Tukhachevski, who commanded this battle, drew up a plan to siege the city and mobilize reinforcements.

However, contrary to the expectations of the Red Army, the Ukrainian White Army guarding Kiev was extremely stubborn and had the support of most citizens. The Petliura group organized a large number of militias. This allowed them to have sufficient troops to defend and continuously launch counterattacks, which contained and consumed a large amount of the Red Army's effective forces.

By mid-July, that is when Hersman had just arrived in Russia. The main force of the Polish White Army, commanded by the French Military Advisory Group, arrived belatedly and advanced to Krosten, west of Kiev. Then came the 18-day Krosten-Kiev battle.

Since the Red Army had been besieging Kiev for three months from mid-April to mid-July and was busy occupying cities in Ukraine on the right bank, fighting against various Ukrainian civilian military forces. So before the battle of Kosten-Kiev began, they were exhausted.

Despite this, the battle-hardened Red Army took the initiative to launch an attack at the beginning of the battle, hoping to seize the initiative on the battlefield. The Red Army once had the upper hand, and the inexperienced Polish army was retreating steadily. But on August 13, after Piłsudski personally led the reinforcements to Krosten, the morale of the Polish army was greatly boosted, and then they launched a counterattack. After three days and three nights of bloody battles, they finally defeated the Red Army, which had long been at the end of its war effort!

This means that the Soviet-Polish War, which started again in April, will end in a disastrous defeat for the Soviet Union - the Soviet-Polish War in history can only be regarded as a draw. Although Soviet Russia did not capture Warsaw, it still regained Kiev and most of Right Bank Ukraine.

But in this time and space, the Soviet Red Army was defeated under the city of Kiev, which meant that half of Ukraine would become the land of the Polish Federation. Moreover, the Donetsk Basin, the heavy industrial base of Soviet Russia, will also be deterred by Polish bombers.

Yesterday afternoon, Lenin's secretary Fodeyeva brought to Lenin the bad news of a massive rout on the front line.

…

"White Poland must be destroyed! The Ukrainian people oppressed by the Polish bourgeoisie must be liberated!"

When Hessmann and Kollontai walked into Lenin's ward in the Kremlin, he heard the patient's hoarse voice repeatedly saying...last words!

Although Lenin's complexion was relatively good, he could still wave his arms while lying on the bed, speak clearly when speaking, and had no symptoms of facial paralysis. However, "White Poland must be destroyed! The Ukrainian people oppressed by the Polish bourgeoisie must be liberated!" These two sentences became Lenin's "last words" after his death, and they were well known in the Soviet Union. Even all the Soviet Young Pioneers had to recite it when wearing their red scarves.

"These are my last words!" Lenin waved to Hessmann and said with a wry smile, "Unexpectedly, we were defeated by White Poland and lost half of Ukraine..."

Hersman's eyes swept around Lenin's ward and found that Trotsky, Stalin, Kamenev and Krestinsky were all there, as well as Lenin's wife Krupskaya and his lover. Armand, you really want to explain the funeral arrangements.

"Ludwig," Lenin took the glass of water from Armand and took a sip, "Losing Ukraine on the right bank will be a big blow to us! And I'm afraid I won't be able to see the country regaining it in my lifetime. Because, I have decided Having negotiated peace with Poland, I will ask Prime Minister Pilburg of the Baltic Republic to try to mediate..."

"It will definitely succeed." Hesman frowned and said, "The British will not be willing to see the Poles take over the entire Ukraine. And the French will not support the Poles to continue to advance eastward. They need Polish troops to go south to attack Hungary. !”

The French were in trouble in Hungary. The main problem was that the Romanians were unwilling to fight anymore, the Serbs were busy cleaning up Croatia and Slovenia, and the Greeks were invading the Asia Minor peninsula. The anti-war sentiment in France was particularly high, and it was impossible to mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops to attack Hungary. So the French transferred MSL troops from North Africa. And these colonial troops in French North Africa reminded the Christians of Transylvania of the Ottoman Empire... As a result, the Hungarian War dragged on endlessly.

And letting the Polish Federation attack the Hungarian Soviet Socialist Union Republic from the north seems to be the best way to end the Hungarian War!

"Piłsudski doesn't dare to ask for it!" Lenin snorted, knowing that he was helpless to the Hungarian Bolshevik Party. "Half Ukraine is the limit that Poland can control. Any more will cause indigestion."

In today's Polish Federation, Poles are still the majority, with about 20 million people. If the entire Ukraine is captured, the demographic structure of the Polish Federation will be reversed. Moreover, there are a large number of Cossacks and Russians living in Left Bank Ukraine, which is not easy for them to rule.

Lenin looked at Hessmann, "But we will still take back Right Bank Ukraine in the future, just like you will take back West Prussia and Posen, won't we?"

"Yes!" Hessmann immediately replied, "It is necessary!"

Lenin nodded heavily, glanced at Hersman, and then at his four political committee members, "Okay! From now on, Russia and Germany will be the best friends! I hope that one day in the future, our two countries will The armies can meet under the walls of Warsaw!"

Hersman knew that from now on, the Soviet Union and Germany would truly become friends! At least before the fall of White Poland, the two sides were comrades and brothers!

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The second update is here. Please add it to your collection and recommend it.