I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 119 Old Friends

Russia is a traditional land power country, with 17% of the world's land area and the world's largest standing army. The regular field army alone has as many as 77 people.

Yasan is known as the "peacemaker". In the next 20 years, no large-scale war broke out in Russia, so there was no need to maintain such a large standing army.

After the use of smokeless gunpowder, the conventional weapons installed by the Russian army will be fully upgraded, which is another huge expense.

It is also an opportunity.

Replacing equipment cannot be completed in a day or two. With Russia's administrative efficiency and industrial strength, this process will take 10 years to start.

George hopes that Yasan can recognize the reality and concentrate the efforts of the whole country to build an elite army.

It's not enough to just make the oak regiments into elite soldiers.

At the very least, the scale must be expanded to include the entire Guards, which will not only save military expenses, but also meet the requirements of Russia's national defense.

Russia has the most threatening strategic depth in the world. It is impossible for any country to push Russia to death. Therefore, Russia can only deploy a small number of security forces in the border areas and deploy the most powerful Guards near St. Petersburg. This way Once war breaks out, the Guards can quickly reach the battlefield by railway.

Another benefit of the elite military policy is the reduction of urban hidden dangers.

The soldiers who retire every year are Russia's biggest hidden danger.

Implementing a policy of elite soldiers and even promoting a professional military system across the country will greatly reduce the number of retired soldiers and the number of urban workers. In this way, social conflicts will be greatly alleviated.

It is known that the peasants are the base of the Tsar.

If the workers' threat is resolved, George will not know where Davarisi's base is.

With targeted arrangements, the training work of the rubber group can be carried out in an orderly manner.

The core of trench warfare lies in the layout of positions, which places higher demands on civil engineering operations.

The Russian army is not in the habit of carrying out civil work, and George had experienced firsthand how difficult it was to dig trenches in Rivno.

Although there is no mechanical assistance now, there are still ways.

boom--

After the violent explosion, a shallow pit appeared on the ground. Soldiers holding shovels cheered and swarmed forward. Soon a simple trench was built.

Andre was accustomed to George's various whims.

Vasily and Demeter were stunned. They didn't expect that gunpowder could be used in this way.

Ye Luoxin's expression was extremely ugly. Explosives were used to dig trenches. How much would it cost to fight this war?

Although it is wasteful to use explosives to blow up trenches, it is a drop in the bucket compared to real combat.

The magazine-type rifle designed by George uses a rotating rear-pull bolt with a rear end lock. The bullet is installed through the top, and the magazine is detachable, which greatly speeds up the loading speed.

It is meaningless to emphasize the rate of fire for bolt-action rifles. On the contrary, it will increase the consumption of bullets, which is even worse for the Russian army’s already extremely poor logistical capabilities.

Heavy machine guns are large consumers of bullets, with a rate of fire exceeding 600 rounds per minute. This is a disaster for Russia's fragile military industry capabilities.

Not counting the cost of the artillery, Ye Luoxin already wanted to die.

"The machine gun position must be carefully arranged. No matter what the situation, we must pay attention to the formation of cross fire and pay attention to the protection of the front. This can effectively reduce the probability of the machine gunner being sniped by the enemy's precision shooter." George suddenly remembered that there is another The most important thing is not equipped.

Infantrymen carry three magic weapons with them: rifles, bayonets, and grenades.

There is no distinction between offensive grenades and defensive grenades here. No matter what they are, you must have grenades.

The structure of the grenade is also very simple, with only the projectile body and the fuse. Leave this work to Bretlov, and you can complete the design with your feet.

For Russia, completing the design is the easiest, if organizing production is a big problem.

George once again determined that a steel mill was needed to meet his needs.

And it can't be a small steelmaking factory like the First Lady's family with an annual output of only 10,000 to 20,000 tons. The output must be very high.

Last year, the steel production in Russia was only a pitiful 31 tons.

If George's plan is implemented, Russia's steel output will not be enough for George to build one.

Fortunately, grenades do not have high material requirements. The key is the fuze. The explosive part can be made of any material, and the outer shell can even be made of wood.

George also had to send a telegram to Ekaterina, urging her to solve the problems at the steel plant as soon as possible.

Ekaterina has been working very hard. She is actively looking for steel plants for sale in Europe. If she can't find one, she can only customize it from the United States.

The advantage of customization is that you can get the most advanced technology, but it takes time.

If there is a steel plant for sale, it can be moved directly to Vladivostok. It does not matter even if the technology is a little behind. Solve the existing problems first, and the technology and equipment can be gradually improved.

The training of machine gunners is also a key issue. The Oak Group is equipped with a total of 6 machine guns, two of which are Gatlings purchased from the United States, and the other four are 4s produced by Oak Manor.

1883 is the heavy machine gun designed by Joseph. Its appearance is very different from the Maxim in George's impression. The water tank around the barrel is square, and it uses a gun stand with wheels instead of a tripod.

The reason for the square water tank is that we cannot make a round one, so we have to make do with a square one.

The wheel frame is for easier movement, and the heavy machine gun must frequently move positions, which puts higher requirements on mobility.

These two machine guns were made by Igor's master and apprentice little by little.

Those mechanical workers who were unwilling to go to Vladivostok continued to polish machine guns at Oak Manor. Their efficiency was extremely impressive, and they could only produce one machine gun per month.

I was finally able to get two erections last month.

But the two heavy machine guns that were rolled out were not equipped with rubber balls. Instead, they were taken away by Yasan's people and handed over to Xie Factory for testing.

This is a good thing. If it passes the test, the factory will organize production, and then the rubber group will be able to equip more machine guns as soon as possible.

In George's ideal, heavy machine guns should be equipped at least to the company level.

As a result, including the firepower directly under the regiment, the rubber regiment needs at least 40 heavy machine guns.

While George was busy with training, Nicholas was not idle either.

Entering summer, the Tsar and the Queen went to the Queen's natal home to spend the summer. The highest summer temperature in St. Petersburg does not exceed 30 degrees. George didn’t even know what to avoid from the “heat” in St. Petersburg.

Nicholas finally had a voice in the State Council, and his first proposal was to build the Trans-Siberian Railway.

During the Second Asia-Pacific period, someone in Russia proposed building the Trans-Siberian Railway, but was eventually forced to give up due to lack of strength.

After defeating the Ottoman Empire, Russia lost the motivation for external expansion in a short period of time. It was time to put the Trans-Siberian Railway on the agenda.

Building the Trans-Siberian Railway is not an easy task for Russia. The Russian Ministry of Interior has evaluated the Trans-Siberian Railway in the past few years. After Ignaev sent people to investigate, he believed that it would take Russia at least 20 years to complete this work.

The Trans-Siberian Railway is expensive and requires a national effort to complete.

This also means that once the Trans-Siberian Railway is started, it will place a heavy burden on the empire's finances. Within 20 years, Russia will have no room to focus on other directions, including military expenditures, which will also be significantly reduced.

Based on the empire's 20 years of development, whether it is worth replacing the Trans-Siberian Railway has triggered widespread discussion in St. Petersburg.

Most people believe that the Trans-Siberian Railway is not worth building at all. The Russians are not even willing to go to the East Siberian Plain, let alone Vladivostok, which is 10,000 kilometers away.

There are many people who hope to start construction of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and Transport Minister Posiet is one of the most active people.

However, Posiette's motives have been widely questioned. Many people doubt that Posiette agreed to build the Trans-Siberian Railway out of personal interests.

This is understandable.

If Russia doesn't build roads, how will the Minister of Transport make money?

When the Tsar returned to St. Petersburg in August, the controversy had not subsided. Many newspapers in St. Petersburg criticized each other. More and more people were paying attention to the matter, and the sales of the newspapers continued to rise.

George did not participate in the discussion. The Rivne exercise will begin in September. The Oak Regiment, of which Nikolai serves as the commander of the corps, is the protagonist of the Rivne exercise.

The resources owned by the Oak Group have long caused widespread controversy among the Russian military.

A lot of people are waiting to see Oak Tuan's jokes.

If the rubber group can perform well in Rivne, it will stop many people's mouths.

If not, Nicholas may be able to stay out of the matter, and George will wait to face the storm of public opinion.

In mid-August, the food processing factory jointly owned by Sergei and George sent a batch of military food for testing purposes to the Oak Group.

This batch of food was not easy to come by. Just the packaging of the food tortured Sergey to the point of almost giving up.

Military food needs to be stored for a long time, and the ideal packaging material is a thin iron box.

Russia's annual steel production is only so much. If iron sheets are used as packaging, the cost will soar significantly.

Sergei used his personal connections to obtain iron sheets from the Obukhov Steel Plant that could be used for food packaging.

Obukhov Steel Plant is a supplier to the Russian Navy. Its main task is to produce 305mm large-caliber naval guns for the Russian Navy. It has only two competitors in the world, one is Germany's Krupp and the other is Britain's Armstrong.

This is enough to prove that Russia's military industry strength is not weak and is fully capable of producing the most advanced weapons. The key is efficiency and scale.

Customized food is of great significance. Military food packaged in iron boxes has a shelf life of up to two years. Although the cost of packaging is high, the price of the food itself is extremely cheap. This is somewhat like buying a casket for a pearl, but this It is also determined by the actual situation in Russia.

On August 8, the Oak Group departed from St. Petersburg for Rivne.

Nikolai did not set out with the team, he wanted to be with the Tsar. After this exercise, Nikolai will also officially leave the Oak Regiment, and the post of commander will be taken over by George.

Since the Oak Regiment was equipped with artillery, it could not go to Rivne on its own this time and had to take a train.

Rivne railway station is still as dilapidated and disorderly as ever, exactly the same as a year ago.

George made some suggestions to Werther last year, but they were of no use. Werther even dared to refuse the Tsar's call. George, a super duke, was not taken seriously by Werther at all.

George is not angry. Werther works in a private company and should be responsible for the boss's profits.

When Werther becomes Chancellor of the Finance in the future, if Werther fails to better safeguard the interests of Nicholas and the empire, George will settle the accounts with Werther.

The empire does not belong to George alone, and George is not a dictator. Different voices should be allowed.

The Oak Regiment was not the first participating unit to arrive in Rivno. The Tver Dragoon Regiment of the Caucasus Military District arrived earlier than the Oak Regiment.

Alexei Brusinov, the commander of the Tver Dragoon Regiment, met George once in Lemberg. At that time, George's military rank was only captain and deputy commander of the fourth company.

A year later, George's military rank was already lieutenant colonel and deputy commander of the Oak Regiment. This promotion speed was something Brusinov could not envy.

Brusinov was not in vain and was accustomed to some unspoken rules in the Russian army. He had heard many stories about the Oak Group this year. After the Oak Group arrived in Rivne, Brusinov took the initiative to visit George. .

In fact, Brusinov is not bad either. He was promoted to the first level after last year's exercise. He is now a colonel, only one step away from a general.

Although there is only one step, many people are unable to cross it throughout their lives and are stuck at the rank of colonel until they retire.

The same goes for lieutenants. There are many old men in the Russian army. These people refer to those who have held the rank of captain for more than ten years.

Being unable to advance for a whole decade is unthinkable in the Guards.

In fact, it is understandable that the Russian army is seriously short of officers. Many companies have only one officer. These "old men" are just dawdling. Once the war breaks out, these old men will quit fighting due to health reasons.

As for how the company will fight without its only officer?

That is a problem for superiors.

The noble officers also had many problems.

After Constantine retired last year, rumors gradually began to spread.

The heir to the grand duke didn't even know how to use a rifle. His educational level was only equivalent to a four-year elementary school graduate. His personal servant was actually a girl. Even Vasily didn't know these things.

Brusinov took the initiative to congratulate George. He envied the treatment of the Oak Regiment. They were also dragoons. The Oak Regiment was very different from other dragoon regiments.

Soldiers of the Oak Regiment will be awarded a rank after completing recruit training and passing the assessment. The lowest-ranking private has an annual salary of about 50 rubles.

Don't be too low.

After communicating with Brusinov, George learned that in some remote areas, the annual salary of Russian soldiers is only a pitiful 2 rubles and 10 kopecks. The soldiers are in the same situation as beggars. They have no fighting spirit and have to wear the underwear issued by the army. and leather shoes were sold in exchange for some daily necessities.

(I finally found it. It was quoted from "A Diplomatic History of the Russo-Japanese War" written by Romanov. 2 rubles and 10 kopecks refers to the Cossacks who had no salary in the first place. The pay of the Guards was better than that of the local troops, so the previous article is No more modifications.)
  (End of this chapter)