User blog:SPARTAN 119/Pancho Villa vs Mikhail Tukhachevsky

=Pancho Villa vs Mikhail Tukhachevsky= =Combatants=

Pancho Villa
José Doroteo Arango Arámbula (5 June 1878 – 20 July 1923) – better known by his pseudonym Francisco Villa or its hypocorism Pancho Villa – was one of the most prominent Mexican Revolutionary generals. As commander of the División del Norte (Division of the North), he was the veritable caudillo of the Northern Mexican state of Chihuahua which, given its size, mineral wealth, and proximity to the United States of America, provided him with extensive resources. Villa was also provisional Governor of Chihuahua in 1913 and 1914. Although he was prevented from being accepted into the "panteón" of national heroes until some 20 years after his death, today his memory is honored by Mexicans, U.S. citizens, and many people around the world. In addition, numerous streets and neighborhoods in Mexico are named in his honor. Villa and his supporters seized hacienda land for distribution to peasants and soldiers. He robbed and commandeered trains, and, like the other revolutionary generals, printed fiat money to pay for his cause. Villa's men and supporters became known as Villistas during the revolution from 1910 to roughly 1920. Villa's dominance in northern Mexico was broken in 1915 through a series of defeats he suffered at Celaya and Agua Prieta at the hands of Álvaro Obregón and Plutarco Elías Calles. After Villa's famous raid on Columbus in 1916, US Army General John J. Pershing tried unsuccessfully to capture Villa in a nine-month pursuit that ended when Pershing was called back as the United States entry into World War I was assured. Villa retired in 1920 and was given a large estate which he turned into a "military colony" for his former soldiers. In 1923, he decided to re-involve himself in Mexican politics and as a result was assassinated, most likely on the orders of Obregón.

Mikhail Tukhachevsky
Mikhail Tukhachevesky was born into a family of a Russian nobles in 1893. In 1912, at age 19, the entered the Moscow Military School and graduated a second lieutenant in 1914, just in time to be sent to the Eastern Front of World War I. Tukhachevsky was captured by the Germans, attempting to escape four times before finally succeeding on his fifth attempt.

In spite of his noble ancestry, Tukhachevsky sided with the Bolsheviks under Vladimir Lenin during the Russian Revolution and the subsequent Russian Civil War. During the Russian Civil War, Tukhachevsky advanced in rank rapidly, eventually being given command of the Soviet 5th Army, and sent to suppress anti-Soviet peasant uprisings such as the Kronstadt rebellion. Tukhachevsky was known to be brutal in his suppression of the uprisings, summarily executing hostages and using poison gas.

Tukhachevsky was later commanded Soviet Forces in the Polish-Soviet War in 1919. The Soviets met defeat at the Battle of Warsaw in 1920, and first came into conflict with Josef Stalin. Tukhachevsky and Stalin each blamed each other for the Soviet defeat.

Tukhachevsky would go on to play a leading role in the reformation of the Red Army starting in 1931, and at about the same time, wrote several books on modern warfare, noting the importance of tanks and aircraft. Tukhachevsky came up the the tactic of deep operations, the tactic of using fast strike, penetrating deep into enemy lines. In 1935, he was made a Marshall of the Soviet Union.

Tukhachevsky was viewed by Josef Stalin as a major rival, and this rivalry with Stalin brought about his downfall. Realizing the Tukhachevsky and the Soviet military were the only thing standing between him and absolute power, Stalin had Tukhachevsky demoted to merely the commander of the Army of the Volga, possibly to separate him from his men. Stalin then ordered Tukhachevsky and seven other senior army officers arrested. They were convicted of treason in a show trial, and, in 1937, Tukhachevsky was executed by a gunshot the back of the head mere hours after his conviction.

Tukhachevsky's family also fell victim to Stalin's purges, his wife and brothers were all shot, and his sisters were imprisoned in one of Stalin's infamous gulags. His daughter was imprisoned until she was released in 1956. It was not until 1957, after the De-Stalinization of Russia under Khrushchev that Tukhachevsky was declared innocent. =Weapons=

Spike Bayonet (Tukhachevsky)
A bayonet is a knife or blade that can be attached to the end of the the barrel of a rifle. The Russian bayonet at the time of the Russian Revolution was a spike bayonet, a simple metal spike attached to the end of the rifle, making it less versatile than "knife" or "sword bayonets"

Machete (Villa)
A machete is a large, heavy-bladed knife about 18 inches in length used in many tropical areas, most notably Latin America and Africa. The weapon is often used for cutting sugar cane and other mundane purposes, but it is used as a weapon to this day, particularly by peasant militias and rebels in Africa and Latin America.

119's Edge
Tukhachevsky's spike bayonet- while it is not as versatile as the machete, it has a longer reach, and anyway, thrusting attacks like the ones that bayonet is designed for tend to produce the most lethal injuries.

Colt Bisley Revolver (Pancho)
The Colt Bisley is a variant of the legendary Colt Single Action Army revolver. The weapon was modified to be ideal for target shooting, with adjustable sights, and a wider trigger and hammer. The weapon was named for a famous shooting range in England. The weapon found another use in the American West, as a self-defense weapon, as wide trigger and hammer were useful for fast shooting. Villa's Bisley will be chambered for .44-40 rounds. Like all Colt Single Action Army revolvers, the weapon had a six-round cylinder.

Nagant M1895 (Tukhachevsky)
The Nagant M1895 Revolver is a Russian double-action revolver first designed in 1895. The weapon was unusual as it had a gas seal around the chamber to prevent gases from escaping. These gases instead forced the bullet forward at a greater velocity. This gave the Nagant the unintended side effect of being one of the few revolvers able to use a suppressor. The weapon had a seven-round cylinder chambered for 7.62x38 rounds.

119's Edge
While the Villa's Bisley fires the more powerful round, I'm giving this to Tukhachevsky's Nagant for its faster rate of fire and extra round in the cylinder.

Mauser 1898 (Villa)
The Mauser 1898 is a German bolt-action rifle firing 7.92mm Mauser rounds. The weapon had a five-round magazine and a muzzle velocity of 878 meters per second. The rifle had a range of about 500 meters.

Mosin-Nagant (Tukhachevsky)
The Mosin-Nagant is a Russian bolt-action rifle is a Russian bolt-action rifle firing 7.62x53mm rounds from a five round magazine. The rifle had a muzzle velocity of 865 meters per second, and an effective range of 500 meters

119's Edge
The two rifles are similar enough to be called even.

Mondragón Rifle (Villa)
The Mondragón Rifle is a Mexican battle rifle that holds the distinction of being the world's first automatic rifle, and the first fully automatic firearm that could be operated by a single man. The weapon was first deployed by the Mexican Army in 1887. The rifle was fed by an 8 or 20-round magazine (20 for the purposes of this match), and fired at a rate of fire of 750-1400 rpm (750 for the purposed of this match). The weapon fired a 7.5mm Mauser round at a range of up to 550 meters. The weapon was accurate in semi-automatic fire, but less so in full auto, proving effective only at closer ranges and for suppressive fire. The weapon could resist sand and dirt well, but would malfunction with moisture.

Federov Avtomat (Tukhachevsky)
The Federov Avtomat was an early Russian automatic rifle first designed in 1915. The weapon weapon fired a 6.5mm Arisaka round- a design originally designed for the Japanese Arisaka rifle, as the 7.62 Nagant produced too much recoil for effective full auto fire. The weapon had a 25-round magazine with a rate of fire of 300-450 rounds per minute.

119's Edge
Villa's Mondragón Rifle for its superior rate of fire and stopping power.

Dynamite (Villa)
Dynamite is an explosive invented by Alfred Nobel in 1867. Dynamite consists of nitrogylcerin stabilized by sawdust or sand to stabilize the nitroglycerin. Dynamite is more stable than nitroglycerin, which may explode at the slightest touch, but can still be set off by a blasting cap, or severe shock such as a gunshot. Dynamite nonetheless allowed for a portable explosive much more powerful than gunpowder. While Nobel was a pacifist and intended dynamite for civilian uses such as mining, the explosive nonetheless quickly was used by military forces.

Model 1914 Grenade (Tukhachevsky)
The Model 1914 is a Russian concussion grenade used by the Russian and later Soviet Army during World Wars I and II. The weapon was a stick concussion grenade with a picric acid charge and a 4-5 second time delay fuse. The weapon could use an optional fragmentation sheath to turn it into a frag grenade.

119's Edge
Tukhachevsky's Model 1914 Grenade for its optional frag sheath, making it more versatile, and as it is actually designed to as thrown explosive. =X-Factors=