2. To make the soldiers continue the war. 3. To
make the peasants forget about the land...."
Lenin appeared for a moment, to answer the accusations of the
Socialist Revolutionaries:
"They charge us with stealing their land programme.... If that is so,
we bow to them. It is good enough for us...."
So the meeting roared on, leader after leader explaining, exhorting,
arguing, soldier after soldier, workman after workman, standing up
to speak his mind and his heart.... The audience flowed, changing and
renewed continually. From time to time men came in, yelling for the
members of such and such a detachment, to go to the front; others,
relieved, wounded, or coming to Smolny for arms and equipment,
poured in....
It was almost three o'clock in the morning when, as we left the
hall, Holtzman, of the Military Revolutionary Committee, came
running down the hall with a transfigured face.
"It's all right!" he shouted, grabbing my hands. "Telegram from the
front. Kerensky is smashed! Look at this!"
He held out a sheet of paper, scribbled hurriedly in pencil, and
then, seeing we couldn't read it, he declaimed aloud:
Pulkovo. Staff. 2.10 A.M.
The night of October 30th to 31st will go down in history. The
attempt of Kerensky to move counter-revolutionary troops against the
capital of the Revolution has been decisively repulsed. Kerensky is
retreating, we are advancing.
Pages:
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303