saint petersburg

Suddenly receiving a declaration of war from the Kingdom of Sardinia, the angry tsarist government was furious. The Anglo-French Ottoman Empire is a great power in the world, what is the Kingdom of Sardinia?

Do you really think that Russia is in decline, and any cat or dog can come over and do things? Angry is angry, because the distance is too far, Russia can't help the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Nicholas I snorted coldly: "Hmph! ”

"Order the troops at the front, give me a good greeting to the Sardinians, and let them know that the Russian Empire is not to be humiliated!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." The Minister of War hurriedly replied

No one could have imagined that the order of Nicholas I, under the wrath of Nicholas I, would become the key to breaking the situation of the Russian army in the future and winning a big victory.

On July 18, 1852, the Russian army launched an offensive in the Caucasus, and the Turkish army retreated. Limited by the terrain, the Russian army has won many battles, but unfortunately the front is advancing very slowly.

The Ottoman Empire also had smart people, knowing that the favorable terrain of the Caucasus could not be abandoned, they hoarded a large number of troops here, and the troops at the front were defeated, and immediately sent new troops to the top.

The two sides launched a fierce fight, which can be described as not giving up an inch of land. After paying a terrible price, in August the Russian army was forced to stop the offensive.

The casualties were too great, the number of combat casualties in more than half a month exceeded 70,000, an average of more than 5,000 casualties per day, but victory was far away, and the Russians could not stand it.

If you want to increase your troops, you are limited by the terrain, and logistical supply is a problem, and you can concentrate 200,000 troops, which is the result of hoarding strategic materials in advance.

After half a month of fighting, the weapons and ammunition were almost consumed, that is, the Russian army's weapons and equipment were backward, so that the basic logistics supply could be guaranteed, and if the British, French, and Austrian armies were replaced, the logistical pressure would increase by a quarter.

The Caucasus could not break through, the Russians once again set their sights on the Balkans, and after such a long period of repair, the Russian army has regained its combat effectiveness, and the total number of troops has risen to 480,000.

The coalition side had more troops, 170,000 French, 20,000 British, 540,000 Ottomans, and the Sardinian army had not yet arrived, with a total strength of 730,000.

However, the Russians did not suffer too much, the Bulgarians raised 50,000 troops, Austria still helped to hold back 70,000 or 80,000 Ottoman troops, the Duchy of Montenegro also mobilized 20,000 troops, and the Greeks, who were ready to stab them in the back, also organized 70,000 troops.

In general, the combat effectiveness of the two sides was almost equal, and the key to determining the victory or defeat was the contest between the commanders of the two sides.

"Are the supplies in place?" Menshkov asked

In the last battle of Bulgaria, they were not able to expand the results of the battle, in addition to the sudden appearance of the French army that broke their plans, and the logistics could not keep up.

In advance, the Russian army misestimated the ammunition consumption on the battlefield, ignoring that after the troops are reequipped, the consumption of weapons and ammunition will also increase significantly.

The Russians are backward in weaponry, and Franz, as an ally, will naturally not sit idly by. As soon as the war broke out in the Near East, Austria sold a large number of new weapons and equipment to the Russians.

The Russians did not have the financial resources to re-equip on a large scale, but they still purchased a batch of weapons and equipment for the use of the main force, about three infantry divisions were replaced with Arcannic weapons, and more than 300 artillery pieces were purchased to increase the firepower.

Facts have proved that these weapons and equipment are still worth this price, and the combat effectiveness of the Russian army has improved a lot after the reloading, and these main divisions are the first troops to tear apart the Ottoman army's defensive line.

If you fight well on the battlefield, the consumption of ammunition will naturally be larger. In the case of the addition of three hundred cannons, only one salvo is needed, and a ton of ammunition is gone.

The large consumption is a logistical problem, and compared with the Russian armament and equipment, which has frequent problems, the officers immediately liked the Olympic armament and equipment, and asked for the replacement of the equipment.

If it were a time of peace, with the large-scale purchase of Austrian weapons and equipment, the interest groups engaged in the production of weapons would certainly be desperately opposed.

The war period was different, for the sake of this war was paid so much, Nicholas I absolutely could not tolerate someone dragging his feet at this time, and forcefully passed the military's request for a change of clothing.

In the past few months of repair, the Russians have not been idle, and have successively replaced the equipment of some troops, and now one-third of the 480,000 Russian troops are using Olympic equipment.

The main force has narrowed the gap with Britain and France in terms of weapons and equipment, and even if there is a lack of training, it can make up for it by two or three points by relying on the fighting will of the fighting nation.

Like the last time, the main force of the 90,000 Russian army could not gnaw at the 50,000 French troops in the field, and now it is very difficult to happen.

"All of them have been put in place, and some of the supplies have even exceeded our prior plan, which is enough to support our entire army for three months." The quartermaster replied

Menshkov nodded with satisfaction, he had enough confidence in this war. In the last battle of Bulgaria, the main forces of the Ottoman army were already heavily damaged.

Even if the number of troops has not declined, the combat effectiveness has inevitably declined. The combat effectiveness of recruits and veterans is completely different, and the gap between the combat effectiveness of elites and cannon fodder is even greater.

Menshikov confidently said: "Very good, as long as the logistics are in place, we have won half of this war."

The country has approved our battle plan, and there are 300,000 more troops in the Ukrainian region, which can replenish our consumption on the battlefield at any time.

The Ottomans are nothing to worry about, the Kingdom of Sardinia was only brought in by the British, and our main enemies were the British and French.

The strategic goal of this battle was to annihilate the main forces of Britain and France on the Balkan Peninsula, advance the front to Edirne, and lay the foundation for the capture of Constantinople.

For the sake of the final victory, we must tear through the enemy's defense line in the shortest possible time and encircle and annihilate the British and French forces at all costs and casualties in this war.

Only by beating them painfully will we be able to win this war. ”

Russia's military system was somewhat chaotic, and the tsarist government was very casual in employing personnel. Originally from the army, Menshkov served as a diplomatic attaché in Vienna, participated in the Anti-French War, the Eighth Russo-Turkish War, and served as the Tsar's chamberlain.

After retiring from the Army, he joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Then he entered the Navy and served as Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Chief of Staff of the General Headquarters of the Navy, Minister of the Navy, and now Admiral.

Being able to leapfrog from the Army to the Navy and become an admiral, some people may think that his naval talent is super strong, so he was promoted by exception, but in fact, on the contrary, he is there to add to the chaos.

The direct consequence of Menshkov's entry into the Navy is that he delays the technological progress and combat training of the Russian Navy, and applies the training model of the army to the Navy, which can be regarded as the gravedigger of the Russian Navy.

At this time, he, an admiral, was sent to command hundreds of thousands of army forces to fight and serve as the commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force in the Balkans, so naturally he would not be convinced.

Although he came from the army, he has been away from the army for more than ten or twenty years, and his professional ability has inevitably deteriorated, which is not convincing.

Now it is more appropriate to say that he is a soldier than that he is a politician. The tsarist government's employment mechanism cast a shadow over the imminent outbreak of the Great War.

The Chief of Staff of the Russian Army, Fitzroy Somerset, objected: "Your Excellency, the persimmon wants to find a soft pinch, and to win this war, the easiest breakthrough is obviously on the Ottomans.

What we need to do now is to look for an opportunity to cripple the Ottoman army, and then come to gnaw the hard bones of Britain and France.

Without the Ottoman army as vassals, the British and French have less than 200,000 troops, and we can easily kill them. ”

Menshikov confidently explained: "If we focus on the Ottomans, the British and French troops will slip away when they see that the momentum is not right, and we simply cannot afford to keep them at the same time."

If we don't hurt Britain and France, even if we take Constantinople, this war will continue.

They could send their troops to the Balkans by sea, and this would be a distant event.

From the outbreak of the war to the present, we have paid at least 130 million rubles in military spending, and if we add the preparations for the war in the early stage, our military spending has exceeded 200 million rubles, which is the financial revenue of the Russian Empire for a year.

If the war drags on for a long time, our finances will be unsustainable. In terms of financial resources, we can't fight the British and French, even with the Austrians. ”

Fighting for financial resources, the British are invincible in this era, even if they only look at the financial income, they are all unbeatable. The four countries of France, Austria, Russia and Qing Dynasty, which are in the second echelon, cannot catch up, and everyone is only six or seven layers of the British.

This gap can only be slowly caught up after countries complete the industrial revolution.

"But Your Excellency Commander, now we have no advantage, and the outcome of the war is likely to be a defeat for both sides, and the ultimate goal will not be achieved." Fitzroy Somersee said with a frown

Menshkov shook his head and said: "We must fight both sides, and in any case, we must fight Britain and France to force them to withdraw from the war."

If we continue to fight this war step by step, will we be prepared to fight this war for one or two years, or ten or eight years?

It's not the same now, we could have fought the Ottoman Empire for more than ten years in a war, but is it possible now?

The high cost of war has taught us that a quick victory is the best option, and that if we continue to delay, we will only pay a heavier price. ”

It is enough for the military to look at the problem, just from the military point of view. Politicians look at problems more from a political point of view.

Menshikov has already overdone himself to politicians, he can not care about the losses of the Russian army, but he cannot accept the continuation of this war.

It was clear to the Russian government that the longer the war lasted, the worse it would be for them. In the later stage, it can only be seen who has the stronger ability to bear it.

The best way to avoid this is to use the heavy casualties on the battlefield to scare Britain and France and force them to back down.

Historically, after the Crimean War, the British intervened in European affairs, but they restrained a lot, avoiding their own personal participation as much as possible, and laid the foundation for Prussia's unification of the German region.

It can be said that the Crimean War was fought for the Germans. After the war, Russia's internal contradictions and methods had to be reformed, and they did not come out for more than ten years; The two victors, Britain and France, were also apprehensive and did not intervene in the unification war launched by Prussia at the first time.

With a unified understanding, the Russian army began to prepare. Fortunately, in this era, information transmission was inconvenient, and although cable telegraphs appeared, they were only found in large cities, and the Balkans were not yet widespread.

Otherwise, with the current practice of the Russians, their operation has not yet begun, and the enemy, having received the news, is ready.

……

Wars are all about comparison, and no matter how chaotic the Russians are, they are better than the Anglo-French Osmanian army, they are advancing on three fronts.

Britain and France did not back down from each other, and the Ottoman Empire could only be neutral, and they were afraid that if one of them was not good enough for Britain and France to withdraw, then they would be finished.

Historically, Aimable-Jean-Jacques Pellissier served as the commander-in-chief of the coalition forces, barely able to command the coalition forces, and now Aimable-Jean-Jacques Pellissier is only one of the three commanders.

The sequelae is that when it is necessary to coordinate operations, everyone must report to the coalition command, and only after the three commanders have reached an agreement can it be carried out.

The Russian army is ready to attack, but the coalition side knows nothing. The Ottoman Empire did not attach importance to intelligence work, and all sources of intelligence were provided by the Chinese people on their own initiative.

Under the bureaucracy, much of this information is not verified, and it is directly used. It's a pity that the Russians don't pay attention to intelligence work, otherwise passing on some false news in the past can make the coalition forces suffer a big loss.

Britain and France were both cross-border and did not have the ability to gather intelligence, and their bureaucracy should not be underestimated, and it was directly believed that the Ottoman Empire would solve this problem.