Germany does not seek survival

It was called a march, but in fact it was not a battle at all. It was simply an armed parade. The Polish Legion advanced all the way and encountered almost no organized resistance. In the end, without bloodshed, the Polish Legion occupied Minsk, the capital of Belarus, without any fighting.

Piłsudski drove into Minsk in a German car. Among the passengers in his car was Smetona, chairman of the Lithuanian War Victims Rescue Association.

In Germany's overall Eastern plan, Poland had been allowed to become independent very early on, but the status of Lithuania had always been unresolved because in the future, the Germans might include Lithuania in the territory of the Kingdom of Courland.

The Kingdom of Courland now includes Latvia and Estonia. The Lithuanian region is not under the direct jurisdiction of Courland for the time being, but Smetona did not dare to take the risk. He was afraid that the Germans would turn against him in the future, so during this period, he kept clinging to Piłsudski's thigh and, with the help of the Polish Legion, began to form the Lithuanians' own armed forces.

"We have already organized two regiments of regular troops in Vilnius, General Piłsudski. If the Polish Legion can send us more military advisors and instructors, the Lithuanians will have at least five or six regiments by next year."

Smetona became very nervous when talking about military aspects. A large number of German troops on the Eastern Front had been transferred to the Western Front, but the few remaining garrisons were still an irresistible giant for the newly emerging small countries and ethnic groups in Eastern Europe.

Piłsudski was wearing a military uniform, with the shadow of his hat brim cast on his face. How lucky are the Poles?

A once-in-a-lifetime historical opportunity appeared before Piłsudski.

Since last year, with the collapse of Tsarist Russia, Poland's independence has become almost a foregone conclusion. Then, because Germany had to concentrate its forces on the Western Front, it could only entrust the occupied areas on the Eastern Front to vassal armies such as the Polish Legion. The Polish Legion was able to expand at will under this name.

Piłsudski said loudly, "Chairman Smetona, we will do as you say. The Polish Legion already has six divisions of elite soldiers. We can send as many officers as we want. We Poles will help Lithuania establish an independent army."

The news that Germany suffered heavy losses on the Western Front has gradually spread to the Eastern Front, so Piłsudski is now more confident. He is sure that even if Germany holds on on the Western Front, the best case scenario is a miserable victory, and it will be difficult to suppress Poland's development in the future.

Since Lenin was forced to sign the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Lithuania has gained nominal formal independence, and Belarus followed suit, becoming a political vacuum. Germany supported a Belarusian People's Republic, but this new country was even weaker than Smetona's Lithuania and had no military power.

The Polish Army advanced all the way and easily occupied Minsk. The Belarusians did not resist. After Piłsudski brought Smetona to Minsk, they came to meet Anton Ivanovich Lutskevich, the interim Prime Minister of the Belarusian People's Republic.

In 1903, Lutskevich founded the Belarusian Revolutionary Congress together with Václav Ivanovsky, another leader of the Belarusian national movement.

This revolutionary congress, like most revolutionary groups in Eastern Europe at the time, was a mixture of nationalism, anarchism and socialism, and its basic ideas were similar to those of Piłsudski.

After Belarus' independence, Lutskevich became the interim prime minister of Belarus recognized by the German army. Among the newly emerging countries in Eastern Europe, Belarus itself had a relatively complex ethnic composition and was the weakest, even weaker than Lithuania. Therefore, Prime Minister Lutskevich had to be very flexible.

Before the Polish Army entered Minsk, Lutskevich wrote to Piłsudski, Smetona and others, telling them that Belarus hoped to establish a modern socialist federal state spanning the Baltic Sea and the Black Sea.

This federation should be a multi-ethnic political entity that embraces all ethnic groups, and its capital can be located between Lithuania and Belarus, while being close to Vilnius in Poland.

The idea of ​​a maritime federation proposed by the Belarusians was exactly what Piłsudski wanted. It was exactly the same as the ancient Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that Piłsudski dreamed of restoring.

However, Lithuania initially strongly opposed the federal idea.

The Lithuanians' idea is very simple. If the federation becomes a reality, whether it is the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Polish, Lithuanian and Belarusian Commonwealth, or even the larger Polish, Lithuanian, Belarusian and Ukrainian Commonwealth, the core must be Poland, and the Poles will never suffer. Then, according to the number of ethnic groups and land area, the status of Ukraine and Belarus will definitely be higher than Lithuania.

Lithuania will almost certainly become the most insignificant pawn in the federation.

If possible, Smetona would certainly prefer to establish a completely independent Lithuanian nation-state rather than be absorbed into the federation as a pawn.

Germany's general plan for the East did not envisage a federation led by a Greater Poland, so the Lithuanians, with the support of the German army, felt that it would not be difficult to establish an independent Lithuanian nation-state.

Also because of Germany's policy of checks and balances and relying on the favoritism of the German army, Lithuania had every opportunity to take advantage of the larger Poland and Belarus during the process of building its country.

Smetona had a good idea, but the problem was that the German army had suffered a crushing defeat on the Western Front, and its power to balance the power of the emerging countries on the Eastern Front had obviously weakened. However, Piłsudski and his Polish Legion had greatly increased their strength within this year.

The Polish Corps, which has six divisions of regular troops, should not be underestimated. Considering that the 200,000 German troops left behind on the Eastern Front are scattered across a vast land from Finland to Ukraine, if a conflict really breaks out, the German troops left behind on the Eastern Front may not be able to defeat the Polish Corps on Polish territory alone.

Piłsudski's current military strength is so powerful that the Sixth Division Corps can be called a giant in Eastern Europe in 1918. Even in the hands of the Soviet Union, the truly reliable elite troops may not have six divisions.

Among the original independent forces in Poland, in addition to Piłsudski's faction, there was also Dmowski's faction, whose ideas were completely opposite to Piłsudski's.

Piłsudski was a Lithuanian-born federalist, while Dmowski was a staunch unitary nationalist who emphasized the creation of a single, pure Polish state.

This was the biggest disagreement between the two groups, but now the disagreement was resolved, because Dmowski had no troops and could only watch Piłsudski become the de facto Protector of Poland with his military power.

The Belarusian interim Prime Minister Lutskevich was very respectful. He was surrounded by only dozens of Belarusian guards whose uniforms were not even uniform. The building that originally belonged to the Tsarist Governor-General's Palace had just been hung with the sign of the Provisional Government of the Belarusian People's Republic, and everything still looked messy.

Lutskevich stepped forward enthusiastically. "General Piłsudski! I'm so grateful for coming to Minsk. I sent a telegram to Warsaw saying that if you agree, we can hold a federal conference in Vilnia."

Piłsudski stepped out of the car, looking truly majestic in his Polish Legion uniform, complete with shiny belt and riding boots.

Piłsudski shook hands with Lutskevich and said, "Vilnius is a good place. As you said in your telegram, the future federal state should have its capital in Vilnius."

The word Vilnia used by Lutskevich is the Belarusian word Vilnius, while Piłsudski used the Lithuanian word Vilnius to refer to the city.

Piłsudski's decision not to use the Polish word for Wierzyno made his position clear.

Because of the Lithuanian nationalist movement, the Belarusian nationalist movement, and perhaps the Polish nationalist movement, the biggest conflict between these three parties is who the city of Vilnius belongs to.

In his earlier telegram on the federal declaration sent to Piłsudski, Lutskevich proposed that Vilnius be designated as the federal capital, thus avoiding a three-party dispute.

Chapter 136: Eighteen Rebel Kings

Piłsudski agreed with this in principle, but he insisted on using the Lithuanian word Vilnius instead of Polish or Belarusian. The implicit meaning behind this was that within the Commonwealth, the Poles should first form an alliance with the Lithuanians and take into account the weak Lithuania.

Sure enough, Piłsudski's choice of words really pleased the Lithuanian President Smetona standing beside him.

Smetona also smiled and shook hands with Lutskevich, saying, "Mr. Prime Minister, I hope we can cooperate happily and resolve the border dispute between Lithuania and Belarus as soon as possible."

In the wave of the collapse of Tsarist Russia, these new countries were born with a very complex ethnic distribution and territorial claims.

Piłsudski wanted to bring together Poland, Lithuania and Belarus, and in the future he also planned to bring Ukraine in, but it was not that easy.

But Piłsudski now has the strongest army in Eastern Europe and his confidence is high.

Piłsudski laughed heartily, took the hands of Smetona and Lutskevich, and, shaking them together, said:

"In my Polish Legion, there are tens of thousands of people who are Lithuanians in Poland or Poles in Lithuania, and thousands more who speak a dialect of Eastern Polish similar to Belarusian. They are just like you. This land is their homeland, and it is also your homeland. For now, we have no choice but to unite. Only unity can enable us to survive together in the gap between Germany and Russia."

The Polish Legion was Piłsudski's biggest bargaining chip. He was only waiting for an opportunity, which was the decline of German power. Once the Allied Powers' short-lived rule in Eastern Europe collapsed, Piłsudski would be able to immediately start cashing in on this bargaining chip.

With the Polish Legion as his foundation, Piłsudski was confident that as long as the Germans did not suppress it immediately, he could turn the Polish Legion into an army of hundreds of thousands within a year or two.

This speed of military expansion will definitely crush Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and other emerging Eastern European countries.

Among the newly emerging countries in Eastern Europe, the only force qualified to compete with the Poles may be the Czech Legion!

Piłsudski was also interested in the Czech Legion, a unit formed by Tsarist Russia during the war using Czech prisoners of war from the Austrian army.

The Czech Legion was committed to overthrowing the Austro-Hungarian Empire and establishing an independent Czech state, so during the war, the Czech Legion performed very hard. Before the collapse of Tsarist Russia, the Czech Legion had become the top elite in the Russian army.

After the collapse of Tsarist Russia, most of the Russian army disintegrated one after another, and the Czech Legion became the only remaining force within Russia. Various forces competed to win it over. In the end, the Allies offered the highest price, so the Czech Legion sided with the Allies and negotiated with Lenin, demanding that the Soviet Union send the Czech Legion to Vladivostok via the Trans-Siberian Railway, and then the Czech Legion would take a ship from Vladivostok to France to continue fighting.

However, there was an episode in the middle.

The Petrograd issue, and the Finnish siege of Murmansk, Russia's northernmost port.

Before the Moscow Uprising, Kerensky's Provisional Government hoped to send the Czech Legion to recapture Petrograd, and since then the Czech Legion has been stationed on the Petrograd front.

After the sound of cannon fire in Moscow and Lenin came to power, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, and Finland became independent. After the Finnish army occupied the entire East Karelian Peninsula, it took advantage of the situation to surround the British-controlled port of Murmansk.

The British side began to contact the Czech Legion, hoping that the Czech Legion could go north to Murmansk to relieve the siege. Afterwards, the British also promised the Czech Legion that after the siege was relieved, the Czech Legion could take a ship from Murmansk to France.

Therefore, the Czech Legion chose to go north instead of following the Soviet arrangement and going to the Far East via the Trans-Siberian Railway. This happened at a time when Germany was handing over control of Petrograd to the Soviet Union. In the chaos, the Soviet Union and the Czech Legion did not trust each other. When the Czech Legion left the Petrograd front without authorization and began to advance towards Murmansk, many Soviet troops began to fire at the Czech Legion.

The conflict between the two sides quickly escalated from small-scale frictions to a full-scale war.

Most of the Soviet troops were still in great chaos at this time, with severe shortages of weapons and equipment, and the officer class had been purged, leaving them with almost no combat effectiveness.

As a result, the Czech Legion swept across the country and occupied Petrograd, which had just been handed over by the German army.

Now, things got out of hand.

Lenin once considered asking the German army to send troops to expel the Czech Legion. However, at that time all the German forces were concentrated on the Western Front and had no intention of opening up a new battlefield on the Eastern Front, so they rejected Lenin's proposal.

Mannerheim, who controlled Finland, had an inherently anti-communist stance, so Finland immediately allied with the Czech Legion, creating a very delicate situation on the battlefield: Britain was the Czech Legion's boss behind the scenes, Finland was still besieging Murmansk, which was under British naval control, but the Czech Legion had allied with Finland in Petrograd.

In the chaotic chaos of Eastern Europe, this kind of relationship is not uncommon today, and will be even more so in the future.

At this time, Petrograd had just experienced a short but fierce battle. The Czech Legion defeated the Soviet army and entered the city. Just like what Mannerheim did in Helsinki, the Czech Legion also executed thousands of Bolshevik revolutionaries.

The streets of Petrograd were still stained with blood. There were a large number of revolutionary propaganda posters and slogans on the walls. Before they were cleaned up, groups of revolutionaries standing in front of the walls were shot by the Czechs.

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk, the chairman of the Czech National Committee and the leader of the Czech independence movement, came to Russia from Paris after the February Revolution in Russia the previous year. Masaryk was worried that Russia would make peace with Germany and betray the Czech Legion. Unexpectedly, several months later, he still failed to prevent the peace between Germany and Russia.

Now, due to various coincidences, he actually led the Czech Legion to capture Petrograd.

Masaryk stood on the steps of the Winter Palace, lighting a cigarette. He was with the British representative, Bruce Lockhart, who was urging him repeatedly: "Mr. President, you should cooperate with the White Army as soon as possible and welcome them into Petrograd. Once the White Army enters Petrograd, they can rebuild a new Russian government that is pro-Allied."

Masaryk smoked a cigarette and lowered his brows. He said, "I am not the president. Please don't call me that before the Czech Republic is truly established."

British representative Lockhart insisted on being called president. He told Masaryk the British plan: "Mr. President, even if the Allies surrounded Murmansk, the British Navy could still transport troops and weapons and ammunition to you from Arkhangelsk."

"Lenin's regime is extremely weak now. The Czechoslovak Army can attack eastward from Petrograd and open up the land route between Petrograd and Arkhangelsk. Everything will be possible! At that time, the Czechoslovak Army can take a ship from Arkhangelsk to France. You don't even need to go to France. You can rely on the supplies shipped by the British Navy and cooperate with the White Army to rebuild a government capable of fighting against Germany."

The British proposal was indeed tempting, but Masaryk was also a cautious person.

The Czech Legion is indeed invincible on the battlefields of the Russian Civil War, but that is mainly due to the collapse of the Russian army. Both the Soviet Union and the White Army now have to build their armies from scratch, while the Czech Legion still maintains its intact organization and morale, which is why it is so powerful.

But in the final analysis, the Czech Legion had only 50,000 to 60,000 men, and because it was impossible to recruit soldiers from Russia, every soldier lost was a lesser one, and it was difficult to replenish the troops. That was why Masaryk was very reluctant to intervene in the Russian Civil War.

Masaryk said, "We just want to leave Russia as soon as possible. As you can see, the situation in Russia is too chaotic. I don't think anyone can unify Russia in the short term, at least in two or three years. The country will be in a state of war for a long time. If the Czech Legion stays in Russia, it will only be consumed by the chaos."

British representative Lockhart was very disappointed: "Even if the Czech Legion did not participate in the Russian Civil War, if you want to go to France, you must open the road to Arkhangelsk. There is no other way."

Masaryk nodded. "Yes, but the Czech Legion will only participate in the battle to open the port of Arkhangelsk. We will not participate in any other Russian civil wars. In addition, the Czech Legion must issue a public statement declaring that we are not an enemy of Lenin's regime in the Soviet Union."

British representative Lockhart wanted to object, but then he thought that as long as the Czech Legion went to war with the Soviet army in order to reach Arkhangelsk, the fighting between the two sides would become more and more intense. By then, even if the Czechs did not want to be involved, they would be involved sooner or later. It would not be so easy to leave.

The British representative, Lockhart, agreed: "I will immediately send your request back to London. I believe London will certainly agree with your proposal."

Masaryk finished smoking his cigarette, then tossed the butt onto the steps of the Winter Palace and stomped on them. "The once-powerful Russian Empire is now in such a mess. In the future, the Austro-Hungarian Empire may suffer the same fate! The Czechs must return home as soon as possible. The sooner we go back, the more food we'll have."

With the German army's disastrous defeat on the Western Front and the Austrian army's setback in Italy, the defeat of the Allies was almost a foregone conclusion, and everyone wanted to grab the biggest piece of meat from the dying corpse of the Allies.

The same was certainly true of Masaryk. He also had his own ideas in mind. As long as the Czech Legion held out until the collapse of the Allies, there would be no need to open up the road to Arkhangelsk and leave Russia by boat. The Czech Legion could also directly fight its way back home from the German-Russian border and the German-Austrian border.

Chaos has gradually formed in Eastern Europe. Eighteen rebel kings are fighting for their own territory. Smoke and dust are rising, and the flags on the city walls are changing...

Masaryk of the Czech Republic occupied Petrograd, and his every move could affect the history of all Russia;

Mannerheim of Finland, with his excellent soldiers and brave generals, has already taken possession of the whole of Great Finland;

Smetona of Lithuania, a man of little influence, clung to the Polish leg, hoping to gain every inch and every foot;

The Germans of Courland, in their great migration, were changing the face of the land forever;

Poland's Piłsudski, commanding six divisions, looked over Eastern Europe;

Lutskevich of Belarus is also looking for his place in the federation;

Petliura and Skoropadsky in Ukraine, fighting for Kiev under the shadow of the German army;

The Kuban Cossacks of the Don, Kornilov and Denikin came here with the intention of turning it into the headquarters of the White Guards...

It remains to be seen who will be the master of this land.

Chapter 137 Who is Spartacus?

Innsbruck in October 1918 was still peaceful, as if the turbulent storm sweeping across Europe at that moment was blocked by the Alps and had no effect on this capital city of Tyrol.

Faust now also serves as the garrison commander of Innsbruck. After the Austrian army moved south, all military and political power in the city was controlled by Faust. He quickly transferred the entire Greater Germany Regiment into the city and took control of all key positions.

then.

Then comes the wait.

During this period of time, Faust behaved unusually calmly. The National Socialists did not carry out any public activities and stopped their movements. Faust also did not continue to look for trouble with the noble children of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Apart from handling some daily official business, Faust spent most of his time listening to music in the Bat Dance Club.

The famous Viennese singer, Miss Galadia, her singing voice came out from the center of the revolving stage.

The female singer wore a dark blue velvet long dress tonight. The neckline was very low, revealing a vast expanse of white that was barely covered. At the edge of the neckline, one could already see a circle of delicate black lace pattern on Galadilla's bra.

The most fascinating thing about this famous singer and actress, besides her tall and slender figure, is her elegant and indifferent expression.

The pearl microphone glowed coldly between her fingers, and she was singing Schubert's "The Erlking", but the lyrics had been changed beyond recognition.

The lyrics that came out of Miss Galadilla's throat were a new version of "The Devil" that Faust had composed himself.

"... the Adriatic coast, besieged on all sides, cries out for the dawn,

God's will ends here, and the glory of the past is gone like a bubble;

The lights are shining on the banks of the Tiber River,

The arena was packed with guests, shouting loudly and arrogantly,

Why build happiness on the suffering of others?

The cage has been broken, and I roam the city with a knife and a pitchfork,

I would rather be trapped in battle than bow down and be a slave;

The wind of fierce hatred roars and howls in the Apennines,

The history of the hardworking masses will be recorded from now on..."

Galadilla's singing voice reveals a kind of indulgence, laziness and a hint of sadness, with a unique and unparalleled elegant charm. There is no flaw in her vocal technique, and her cold expression creates a strong contrast. Who can fail to be moved by it?