Hi, guys! Well, there appears to be overwhelming interest in my Polish-Soviet War TL idea, so I've written the first installment. Please enjoy. Oh, and a little music to get you guys in the mood.
The Red Army Choir--Playlist
The Red Banner Yet Flies: An Alternate Polish-Soviet War
Mikhail Tukhachevsky and Semyon Budyonny
“All that is needed in order to achieve what you want is bravery and self-confidence. I certainly have enough self-confidence...I told myself that, at thirty, I shall either be a general, or I shall be dead.”
--Mikhail Tukhachevsky, People’s Commissar for Defense and K-14 Commander(1)
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds; the pessimist fears it is true."
— James Branch Cabell, The Silver Stallion
Part 1: The Fall of Lvov
Lvov, Poland
July 5, 1920
Corporal Adam Śniadowski watched his makeshift artillery corps setting up their emplacements with a growing sense of unease. The men were inexperienced, unused to military discipline, and to top it off, many of them were over fifty, most of the younger men of Lvov having fled the city for safer areas. Only the hardened, older mieszczuchy had remained to fight the Red threat. Perhaps a handful of these had served in the Kaiser’s army, some of them having fought the French all the way back in 1871. While he valued their experience, he knew that most of them would be useless when it came down to it. The rest of the city’s ragtag fighting force was much the same as his own; lacking men, machineguns, ammunition, and in some cases even basic rifles, the city’s soldiers were horribly ill-equipped to fight off the feared Cossacks(2) who rode to their city. The corporal was beginning to wonder if they could hold of the Russians for even a week without any machine gun emplacements and only his three guns.
As Śniadowski ruminated on these things from his perch on the crude spotting tower, he heard a strange noise. Like thunder, in the middle of a sunny summer day. Looking to the east, from whence it was coming, his heart fell. Thousands of horsemen, Cossacks by the look of them, were galloping towards the city across the river. The battle was about to begin.
***
Semyon Budyonny, commander of the 1st Soviet Cavalry Army, watched the Poles preparing their defenses from a safe hill across the river, flanked by hardened Tatars from the Crimea. Good men, both of them, but ones who would likely die in this battle. Such is the price of victory. Banishing such thoughts, he lowered the primitive binoculars and beckoned to Sergei, his second-in-command. The tall Ukrainian strode over with a casual salute. “The weather is good today and the water is calm. This ground is hard, good for riding.” After a moment’s pause—Budyonny reveled in keeping his impatient Kievite lieutenant waiting—he continued. “ Tell the artillerymen to prepare their guns and the cavalry to form up for a charge. We take the city today.” A look of surprise came over Sergei’s face. “A charge? But sir! That’s suicide!” The big Cossack chuckled at his lieutenant’s words and clapped him on the shoulder with a meaty hand. “They don’t even have machineguns(3), Sergei. I doubt they can resist us for long.” His face suddenly darkening, he added, “Now go, before I whip you for insubordination!(4)” As Sergei hurried away, Budyonny’s mood lightened once again and he lifted his binoculars to gaze upon the pristine city. He was already imagining the glory he and his troops would garner for this.
***
The Guardian, July 21, 1920
(5)
The Guardian, August 19, 1920
The Guardian, September 10, 1920
Notes
(1) K-14 Commander being equivalent to Field Marshal. Note that he does not have this rank at the time of the Polish-Soviet War.
(2) While they were partially Cossack ethnically, the 1st Cavalry Army was by no means totally Cossack nor did they think of themselves as such. That distinction belonged to the aptly-named Red Cossacks.
(3) The Polish forces at Lvov only got machineguns a few days before the battle. With an earlier battle, they aren’t able to receive them before Budyonny reaches the city.
(4) Budyonny ran his army in a much stricter and authoritarian way than Tukhachevsky did his. Furthermore, he was a man of swiftly changing moods.
(5) Note that the Western media was actually very pro-Soviet during the war, seeing the Poles as a continuation of Mitteleuropa-style plans.
(6) That’d be Tukhachevsky. This is the first time the nickname will be attributed to him, but not the last.
The Red Army Choir--Playlist
The Red Banner Yet Flies: An Alternate Polish-Soviet War
Mikhail Tukhachevsky and Semyon Budyonny
“All that is needed in order to achieve what you want is bravery and self-confidence. I certainly have enough self-confidence...I told myself that, at thirty, I shall either be a general, or I shall be dead.”
--Mikhail Tukhachevsky, People’s Commissar for Defense and K-14 Commander(1)
"The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds; the pessimist fears it is true."
— James Branch Cabell, The Silver Stallion
Part 1: The Fall of Lvov
Lvov, Poland
July 5, 1920
Corporal Adam Śniadowski watched his makeshift artillery corps setting up their emplacements with a growing sense of unease. The men were inexperienced, unused to military discipline, and to top it off, many of them were over fifty, most of the younger men of Lvov having fled the city for safer areas. Only the hardened, older mieszczuchy had remained to fight the Red threat. Perhaps a handful of these had served in the Kaiser’s army, some of them having fought the French all the way back in 1871. While he valued their experience, he knew that most of them would be useless when it came down to it. The rest of the city’s ragtag fighting force was much the same as his own; lacking men, machineguns, ammunition, and in some cases even basic rifles, the city’s soldiers were horribly ill-equipped to fight off the feared Cossacks(2) who rode to their city. The corporal was beginning to wonder if they could hold of the Russians for even a week without any machine gun emplacements and only his three guns.
As Śniadowski ruminated on these things from his perch on the crude spotting tower, he heard a strange noise. Like thunder, in the middle of a sunny summer day. Looking to the east, from whence it was coming, his heart fell. Thousands of horsemen, Cossacks by the look of them, were galloping towards the city across the river. The battle was about to begin.
***
Semyon Budyonny, commander of the 1st Soviet Cavalry Army, watched the Poles preparing their defenses from a safe hill across the river, flanked by hardened Tatars from the Crimea. Good men, both of them, but ones who would likely die in this battle. Such is the price of victory. Banishing such thoughts, he lowered the primitive binoculars and beckoned to Sergei, his second-in-command. The tall Ukrainian strode over with a casual salute. “The weather is good today and the water is calm. This ground is hard, good for riding.” After a moment’s pause—Budyonny reveled in keeping his impatient Kievite lieutenant waiting—he continued. “ Tell the artillerymen to prepare their guns and the cavalry to form up for a charge. We take the city today.” A look of surprise came over Sergei’s face. “A charge? But sir! That’s suicide!” The big Cossack chuckled at his lieutenant’s words and clapped him on the shoulder with a meaty hand. “They don’t even have machineguns(3), Sergei. I doubt they can resist us for long.” His face suddenly darkening, he added, “Now go, before I whip you for insubordination!(4)” As Sergei hurried away, Budyonny’s mood lightened once again and he lifted his binoculars to gaze upon the pristine city. He was already imagining the glory he and his troops would garner for this.
***
The Guardian, July 21, 1920
POLES DEFEATED AT LVOV: BUDYONNY TRIUMPHS
GERMAN-BACKED POLES DEFEATED, SOVIET COMMANDER STALIN DISCREDITED BY INACTION
GERMAN-BACKED POLES DEFEATED, SOVIET COMMANDER STALIN DISCREDITED BY INACTION
(5)
The Guardian, August 19, 1920
RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE ON WARSAW SAVED BY BUDYONNY
HERO OF LVOV AND RED BONAPARTE(6) TOGETHER IN TRIUMPH
HERO OF LVOV AND RED BONAPARTE(6) TOGETHER IN TRIUMPH
The Guardian, September 10, 1920
POLES SUE FOR PEACE
JOSEPH PILSUDSKI SURRENDERS ON VISTULA, BEGS FOR PEACE
JOSEPH PILSUDSKI SURRENDERS ON VISTULA, BEGS FOR PEACE
Notes
(1) K-14 Commander being equivalent to Field Marshal. Note that he does not have this rank at the time of the Polish-Soviet War.
(2) While they were partially Cossack ethnically, the 1st Cavalry Army was by no means totally Cossack nor did they think of themselves as such. That distinction belonged to the aptly-named Red Cossacks.
(3) The Polish forces at Lvov only got machineguns a few days before the battle. With an earlier battle, they aren’t able to receive them before Budyonny reaches the city.
(4) Budyonny ran his army in a much stricter and authoritarian way than Tukhachevsky did his. Furthermore, he was a man of swiftly changing moods.
(5) Note that the Western media was actually very pro-Soviet during the war, seeing the Poles as a continuation of Mitteleuropa-style plans.
(6) That’d be Tukhachevsky. This is the first time the nickname will be attributed to him, but not the last.