The General Headquarters of the Allied Forces in Constantinople, which logically seized the Bosphorus, and the great victory of the Allied Forces should be celebrated, but the reality is quite the opposite.

After seeing the casualty statistics, everyone couldn't be happier.

Since the Russian army consumed a lot of time in the Ava landing, leaving the enemy plenty of time to react, the Ottomans mobilized heavy troops to deploy their defenses.

The consequence of a hard-hitting confrontation is heavy casualties. With the superiority in equipment, the Russian army won the battle, but the price paid was not small.

The number of casualties of up to 30,000 is enough to prove the tragedy of this war. If we add the casualties of the Ava landing and other regional battles, the number of casualties of the Russian army has exceeded 40,000 so far since the start of the war, of which the number of killed is approaching 10,000.

Perhaps this figure is not worth mentioning for the Russian Empire, but for the expeditionary force of only 150,000 troops, it is very fatal.

Now the morale of the Russian army has dropped significantly, and victory cannot change the sequelae of heavy casualties. Even if the wounded are effectively treated, the number of Russian soldiers who can return to the battlefield will not exceed 20,000.

This means that from now on, the total strength of the Russian army has permanently lost 20,000. In the short term, the Russian army can only use 110,000 troops, and it has to divide its troops to garrison the Bosphorus, with less than 80,000 mobile troops.

As the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, Admiral Arest also felt the pressure, he didn't care about the heavy casualties of the Russian army, the key was that the next battle situation worried him.

The attitude of the Vienna government was very clear and won the victory at the minimum cost. The placement of the admiral in the position of commander-in-chief of the coalition forces proves that the Viennese government did not attach importance to the campaign in Asia Minor and did not have a plan to send troops.

As a soldier, there is no one who wants to lose a war. Although the war was commanded by the Russians themselves, and Arest was not responsible for it, a defeat on the battlefield would still affect his reputation.

Of course, as an admiral, he did not personally command the war, so he could minimize the impact and not affect his career.

Arest warned: "General Ivanov, your strategic objectives have been exposed, the enemy is ready, waiting for you to jump into the pit, do you want to continue?" ”

The word "you" fully illustrates the relations within the coalition forces, and the cooperation between Russia and Austria is not intimate.

Ivanov's face changed, and his expression was a little embarrassed. Originally, they were going to show Austria their strength through this campaign, but the result is not to mention.

Had it not been for the appearance of the Austrian airship force at the last moment, which had demoralized the enemy, the war might have continued even now.

Strength is the right to speak, and the Russian army has not shown superhuman combat effectiveness, and its right to speak in the alliance is naturally affected.

Especially in the command of the coalition forces, the facts have proven the failure of the operational plans of the Russian army. At the time of the meeting, Ivanov's voice was much lower.

"Your Excellency Commander, the Bosphorus Strait has been taken, the gateway to the Sea of Marmara has been opened, and the Black Sea Strait of the coalition forces can be entered at any time, and we can launch landing operations more flexibly."

"Don't hit the south wall, don't look back", hearing this answer, Arest took back what he wanted to say and reorganized the language.

After a period of contact, Arest knew that Ivanov was not a fool and his military ability was excellent. The previous war is proof that, in general, the Russian army did not make much mistakes.

It can only be a "political necessity" that allows him to continue with a clearly erroneous military plan regardless of the actual situation.

Military needs to serve politics, and when it comes to politics, it doesn't matter what is right or wrong.

The tsarist government needed to open the Black Sea straits as soon as possible to ensure the normal flow of domestic export trade, and the Russian army on the front line could only bite the bullet.

Heavy casualties? It doesn't matter, the Russian Empire has people, anyway, the war materials were provided by the Austrians, and the tsarist government could afford to lose.

The allies have such a strong desire to fight, and Arest can't stop it. As long as the Russians are willing to fight with their lives, the Vienna government is willing to throw money.

"With your troops, if you want to complete the later battle plan, I'm afraid you still can't do it, do you plan to increase your troops?"

Ivanov nodded: "Yes, Your Excellency Commander." The Ottomans had already reacted and needed at least 200,000 troops to seize the Black Sea straits.

I have already applied for 100,000 reinforcements from home and expect to be on the front line in two months, and the only problem now is supplies.

In recent years, the Russian Empire has been short of financial resources, and the Russian-Polish war has just broken out, and now it cannot afford ......"

Hearing this reply, Arest stood up and turned his back to the crowd, as if lost in thought.

No need to ask, Arest knew that the tsarist government was going to empty the white wolf again. The so-called 100,000 reinforcements are probably 100,000 young and strong.

If I am not mistaken, the tsarist government wanted to train troops through this war to prepare for the later Prussian War.

In the minds of politicians, human life is worthless. Being able to take Austrian supplies and train an elite division out, it is estimated that the tsarist government will not care about casualties.

After half a moment, Arest gave the answer: "This is beyond my authority. In order to increase the supply of goods, this must be agreed by the Vienna government. ”

Ivanov said with some eagerness: "Your Excellency, you don't need the consent of the Vienna government, we just need to report some more losses, and we can ...... the accounts."

Let the Vienna government decide, and that is a diplomatic dimension. Countries have always spoken in terms of interests, and the Russian-Austrian alliance is no exception.

This brings us to the question of the division of the spoils of war in the future, and Ivanov would rather have fewer supplies now than pay a greater price for the Russian Empire.

The Russian army has always had a hard time, and the logistics of the expeditionary force are supplied with reference to the Austrian army, which is far beyond the treatment of the Russian army.

In the eyes of many Russian military officers, giving this treatment to gray animals is a complete waste. If the standard is lowered and more battle losses are reported, the supply of 150,000 troops is enough to supply 230,000 Russian troops.

It is easy to deal with insufficient weapons and equipment, according to the practice of the Russian army, wait for the soldiers in front to die, and the soldiers in the back can pick up the guns and continue to use them.

Besides, some supplies can be captured on the battlefield, and with everyone's cooperation, the problem will be solved.

Arest's face changed greatly, this kind of thing can be done by the Russians, but he doesn't dare to do it.

Franz was very strict in supervising the army, and those who falsely reported war losses and betrayed national interests were subject to military courts. The benefit promised by the Russians was a talisman for Arest.

"No! General Ivanov, I warn you that this matter ends here, please do not insult the glory of the nobility! ”

With that, Arest slammed the door straight out. He was really angry, and if he was not careful, he would be doomed.

It's not easy to get into this position, I don't know how many people are staring at it, and if they want to replace it, Arest doesn't want to be a stepping stone for others.

As for the "benefits promised by the Russians", Arest was even more dismissive. If high-ranking officers like him are poor ghosts, then how can the officers and soldiers below live?

……

At the Vienna Palace, looking at the battle report in his hand, Franz did not feel the slightest surprise. No matter how much the Ottoman Empire declined, there were still three pounds of nails in the rotten ship.

The reforms that preceded the Sudanese government were not completely ineffective, at least training a modern army. Perhaps limited by financial resources, bureaucratic corruption and other factors, the Ottoman army is not strong in combat, but how much better can the Russian army be?

The tsarist government had limited financial resources, and the Russian army was also living a hard life. The information collected at the front has shown that there are serious deficiencies in the training of the Russian army.

The two rookie armies are pecking at each other, the Ottoman army has a numerical advantage, the Russian army has an equipment advantage, and it is normal to win the war with heavy losses.

There was no big defeat at the front, and there was no need for Austria to send troops to deal with the aftermath, Franz was satisfied. From Austria's point of view, the Russian army's combat effectiveness is still weak.

"The Russians want to use our strength to train their troops, and maybe they will continue to change troops on the grounds that they need to rest and recuperate.

The tsarist government is in a hurry, it seems that the Prussians have brought them a lot of irritation, how do you think we should reply to them now? ”

The fact that the tsarist government wanted to open up the Black Sea straits had been subconsciously forgotten by Franz. It's a trivial thing compared to a hidden plan.

In the last Russo-Prussian War, most of the soldiers of the Russian army were poorly trained, which was also an important factor in the defeat of the war.

Eat a trench, grow a wisdom.

The tsarist government wanted to train an elite army, and this was an inevitable result. Now the biggest problem of the tsarist government was the lack of money, and the war in the near East became an opportunity for the Russians to train their troops.

Anyway, Austria pays for it, they just need to send people. Don't look at the heavy casualties of the Russian army on the front line, once they recover from rest, the combat effectiveness of the remaining troops will definitely increase instead of decreasing.

Prime Minister Felix: "Your Majesty, it depends on how much the Russians are willing to pay. The losses in actual combat training are very large, and it is impossible for soldiers to serve for a long time, and they will be retired after a few years.

If the Russo-Prussian War had not broken out in a short time, these soldiers would have been able to impart only experience. The Russian army does not lack this experience, and only a few years have passed since the last war.

I think that the tsarist government wanted to train a group of qualified officers through actual combat, and as long as there were enough officers, it would not be difficult to expand the army at all, and it could also ensure a certain combat effectiveness. ”

Train officers, that's what Austria is doing. The purpose of summoning so many cannon fodder troops to the battlefield is to train the officers, otherwise the Middle East battlefield would not have been able to grind until now, and Jerusalem has not yet been conquered.

The Russians want to train officers, but it is not as simple as it seems. It is also related to the future situation in Europe, for example: to increase the chances of victory of the tsarist government in the Russo-Prussian War.

……

vertex