Tsaritsyn from his headquarters in Kozlov, a brawl broke out at a meeting of the North Caucasus Military Council, and two days later, against the will of the high command, Voroshilov was appointed commander of the Front. Trotsky and Vācietis demanded that Stalin be deprived of his post as commissar and that Voroshilov be brought before a military tribunal. In response, Stalin sent telegrams to Vladimir Lenin complaining about Trotsky. Against the orders of the Red Army command, Dmitry Zhloba's 15,000-strong Steel Division (then part of Ivan Sorokin's 11th Army) marched from the North Caucasus towards Tsaritsyn. On 15 October, Zhloba's division struck Krasnov's forces in a surprise attack, breaking the siege. After these events, Zhloba's division was incorporated into the 10th Army. By the end of the month, the Cossacks were forced to resign. Over the course of the battle, Stalin had regularly disobeyed Moscow's orders, illegally confiscating supplies sent from Moscow through Tsaritsyn towards the Caucasus. In November 1918, Stalin was recalled from Tsaritsyn due to his insubordination and left the city after the siege was lifted. A little later Sytin lost his own position, and Pēteris Slavens was appointed in his place. Third siege (December 1918 – February 1919) Krasnov was now largely unable to convince the Cossacks to fight outside the Don region, but with difficulty persuaded them to lead troops to the cities located on the outskirts of the Don. The civilian Cossack leaders and their mid-level military commanders, and even Krasnov's closest associates, were not interested in the situation on other fronts of the civil war. While the Bolsheviks directed the best forces at their disposal to Tsaritsyn, understanding the importance of this center, the Cossacks were primarily concerned with conquering the northern part of the Don region, which was not so important in the broader context of the war. Krasnov therefore tried to convince the commanders of the Volunteer Army, generals Anton Denikin and Mikhail Alekseev, to coordinate an attack on the city. However, they did not consider its occupation to be a priority either. Denikin was aware of the fact that the Cossacks were only interested in mastering a specific area, and that they would not want to fight the Bolsheviks outside of it. The Volunteer Army headed in the opposite direction, deep into Kuban, capturing it in late 1918. By the end of November 1918, thanks to the reorganization and growing