On the Crimean Peninsula, Britain, France and Russia continued to fight, to be precise, Britain and France attacked, and the Russians were defending with all their might.

The disadvantage in weapons and equipment is a hard wound, unlike the Russian army on the Balkan Peninsula, all of them have been reequipped with Austrian equipment, and they are on a par with Britain and France in terms of equipment.

The Russian army on the Crimean peninsula was not so lucky, it was originally a second-line army in the country, and it was a hasty response to the war, coupled with the corruption of the bureaucracy of the tsarist government, which caused their tragedy due to multiple factors.

In fact, at this time, Nicholas I had already decided to completely replace the Austrian armament, but because of the introduction of production lines in China, the bureaucrats of the pit teammates gave the order to the domestic military industrial enterprises with a pat on the head.

It takes time for the production line to be debugged, it still takes time to retrain workers, and it doesn't hurt to do so in peacetime. It's a time of war, and the Russian army on the battlefield can't wait!

So far, the Russians have not been able to exert their production capacity to the fullest, and it will not be possible to fully reequip the Russian army on the Crimean Peninsula at their speed.

General Fitzroy Somerset, who had just been transferred to the post of commander-in-chief of the Crimean Peninsula, was furious, and when he was fighting in the Balkans, he did not feel that he was lacking anything, and it was better to purchase directly from Austria.

When he arrived here, he found that the logistics of the Russian army were so bad, not only that the new weapons were not replaced in time, but even the ordinary logistics materials often made mistakes.

Thankfully, the coalition forces on the opposite side were not as strong as those encountered in the Balkans, and the battle of Constantinople was still meaningful, at least containing the elite troops of the French.

Fitzroy Somersee thought for a moment and said: "Send a telegram to St. Petersburg explaining our situation and asking the country to replenish our supplies immediately.

If logistical supplies cannot be guaranteed, then the Crimean peninsula will have to be abandoned and retreated to the coastal areas of Ukraine. ”

Forget about the lack of medical treatment, anyway, the gray livestock is worthless, and he is not distressed when he dies. Lack of guns and artillery, this can't be endured, the guy has nothing to do, how can the battle be fought?

As for whether he will offend people, Fitzroy Summersey doesn't care so much, if he loses the battle, he will be finished, and no matter how serious the consequences are, it will be nothing more than that.

As a high-level general of the Russian army, as long as he wins this war, even if he offends domestic interest groups, he can resist the pressure.

The means of transport of the Russian army on the Crimean Peninsula are mainly ox carts, which is quite good in this time and space, the Russians are relatively well prepared, and have hoarded a number of supplies in the coastal areas, and there are a lot of them on the Crimean Peninsula.

Even if they were frothed by the bureaucrats, they took these supplies and it was useless, and in the end they had to sell them to the Tsar, so Fitzroy Somerset did not have to worry about food.

There is no way to deal with weapons and equipment, and since the tsarist government has decided to change equipment, these rags do not know where to abandon them.

The same weapons and equipment, produced by the Russian arsenal, inevitably increased in weight a little bit, and the failure rate was a little higher, but absolutely durable.

Fitzroy Somersey is also not picky, as long as he has it. Now to put pressure on the government of St. Petersburg is to ask them to speed up the supply and buy it if it is too late for domestic production!

Anyway, in any case, the Russians on the Crimean peninsula did not dare to give up, and as soon as Britain and France gained a foothold here, the Black Sea had nothing to do with them.

In order to fight the biggest competitor, presumably the British do not mind paying for the annual military spending. As long as the Crimean peninsula is blocked, not only will the Near East strategy be over, but half of the import and export trade will be in their hands.

It didn't take long to hold out, three or five years at most, the European hegemony of the Russian Empire collapsed, and then instigated Polish independence, and the British strategy succeeded.

Of course, this kind of good thing obviously did not succeed so easily, at least Franz did not agree, and he was ready to cause some trouble for the British now.

The Russians must not fall, at least until the new Holy Roman Roman Empire completes its internal integration, otherwise they will have to be men with their tails between their legs.

Franz asked with concern: "Marshal, is there any way to allow the Russians to take Constantinople?" ”

In Franz's view, the easiest to break the situation in the Near East was Constantinople, and as long as the Russians conquered it, the war could not be fought.

The Bosphorus is 750 meters at its narrowest point and 3.7 kilometers at its widest point. As long as Russia is provided with a batch of shore guns to be deployed on the shore, the Black Sea and the outside sea passage will be cut off.

Without a sea connection, the Ottoman Empire's transportation and the Russians were to fight, and if supplies were to be transferred by land from the Asia Minor Peninsula, then the Anglo-French forces on the Crimean Peninsula would have problems with the logistical supply, and there would be no other way but to run away.

Marshal Radesky analyzed: "Your Majesty, Constantinople was originally a fortress city, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and it was garrisoned by elite troops of the French army, as well as the navy to provide fire support.

If you want to attack head-on, you can only rely on strength. Only by reaching the limits of what the French army could bear could it be possible to break through the city.

Now the most correct choice for the Russians is to mobilize a large number of artillery to bombard Constantinople, and no matter how strong a fortress is, there is a limit.

The Ottoman Empire had long since decayed, and Constantinople had not been threatened for a hundred years, and they had long since relaxed the upgrading of the city fortifications.

After the outbreak of the war in the Near East. The Ottoman government only carried out some emergency repairs and reinforcements, but the time was still too short, and this was the opportunity for the Russians.

Most of these fortifications could not withstand heavy artillery attacks. As long as the Russians are willing to spend their money and get hundreds of heavy artillery pieces to knock little by little, they can also break this turtle shell. ”

It's a pure stupid way, it's all about overpowering, but it's the only way to do it right now.

The problem is that Britain and France can also get a large amount of artillery to bombard the Russians, and in the end, both sides still have to fill in with human lives. Without 180,000 deaths, it is estimated that Constantinople will not be breached.

The artillery hit rate in this era was very low, and the Russian army only needed to disperse its artillery positions and bombard the city of Constantinople, and the target was so big that it was always possible to hit the shells in, and it would be difficult for Britain and France to destroy the artillery positions of the Russian army.

Franz felt that the casualties could not frighten the Russians, and perhaps the military expenditure would bring the Russians down first. A few hundred heavy guns alone can't be done without tens of millions of rubles, and a salvo costs dozens of tons of ammunition.

Since it is necessary to achieve the effect of wild bombardment, it is just an ordinary operation to shoot out thousands of tons of ammunition a day. To level Constantinople, God knows how much ammunition will be consumed in the end.

But if you don't fight like this, according to the current way of attacking the Russians, the exchange ratio is four to one, even if the gray cattle are worthless, they can't withstand such consumption?

As things stand, Franz can say with certainty that after a year and a half at most, the tsarist government will be forced to abandon it because of the heavy casualties.

Franz thought for a moment and said: "The General Staff will sort out a plan and forward it to the tsarist government, so let them go if you don't need it!" ”

He didn't believe that there were no smart people in the Russian government who could see that blindly risking human lives to fill the huge hole of Constantinople without the superiority of firepower was an act of seeking death.

According to the information received by Franz, since the outbreak of the Battle of Constantinople, the number of casualties of the Russian army has approached the sum of the two battles of Bulgaria.

St. Petersburg is preparing to replace Menshkov, and under the command of this "genius" commander, the casualties of the Russian army have always been high.

This plan was not for the St. Petersburg government, but for Menshkov, the commander-in-chief of the Balkans of the Russian army, and if he did not want to return to St. Petersburg in disgrace, he would definitely consider Austria's proposal.

As a high-ranking general of the Russian army, no one can resist the temptation to conquer Constantinople, as long as he completes this great cause, he will be recorded in Russian history as a Russian "national hero".

Not only were the Russians interested, but Franz also wanted to accomplish this great cause, and the Habsburgs and the Ottoman Empire were also feuding, and the conquest of Constantinople would also bring them a great deal of political prestige.

Most of Europe had a special affection for the city, and now that the French were helping the Ottomans defend Constantinople, Franz was sure that Napoleon III would not mind taking the city if he had the chance.

Accomplished this great deed, no less than the prestige brought by the defeat of the Russians. If the Battle of the Crimean Peninsula had been lost, Napoleon III would most likely have swallowed Constantinople outright, saving the political disaster caused by the defeat of the war.

The government of London would probably have acquiesced in all this, and Constantinople could not have fallen into the hands of the French better than in the hands of the Russians. France and Russia are deadlocked, and the British are definitely happy to see it.

If possible, Franz didn't mind pushing it to make the hatred between France and Russia deeper.

It is a pity that the Russians are not angry, the bureaucrats of the tsarist government are dragging their feet, and the hope of the Russian army winning the war on the Crimean peninsula is too slim.

Unable to do this, Franz could only hope that the Russians would break out and conquer Constantinople, and in one fell swoop would pull the hatred between Britain and France to the fullest.

Marshal Radetzky's approach, which was undoubtedly the most effective from the standpoint of the Vienna government, was in fact a bad idea for the Russians from beginning to end.

The reason is very simple, the war consumption is too large, and it is not suitable for an agricultural country like a woolly bear.

This style of play easily exceeded the limits of the Russian Empire, and even if they conquered Constantinople, they would not be able to carry out the next strategy because of the exhaustion of financial resources.

After all, there is also a Dardanelles? Mastering one Bosphorus was not enough for the Russians to control the Black Sea straits, and by taking Constantinople, they were able to control half of the Bosphorus.

Strategically, taking the Gallipoli Peninsula and blocking the Dardanelles now could also end the war.

Not everywhere is a Constantinople, and defending the Gallipoli Peninsula is definitely much more difficult than defending Constantinople.

Even if it is impossible to capture this place, the division of troops to attack can force Britain and France to station heavy guards and reduce the pressure on the Russian army on the Crimean peninsula.

It can only be said that the temptation of Constantinople was too great, and the Russians could not resist this temptation, so they went directly to the recklessness.

Franz naturally could not have reminded the Russians that the war in the Near East ended prematurely and failed to maximize the strength of Britain, France and Russia, which was not in the interests of the new Holy Roman Empire.

Besides, no matter how good a strategy is, it needs people to execute it, and Franz does not think that the Russians have such a strong execution ability, at least General Menshkov can't do it.

With the efficiency of the Russians, it is undoubtedly a fool's dream to attack Britain and France with a surprise attack. Now the Gallipoli peninsula has only a few Ottoman garrisons, which can easily be broken through.

As soon as Britain and France reacted, the coalition forces attacking the Greeks could immediately reinforce the Gallipoli Peninsula, and then it would be another general battle.

Britain and France have strong national strength, and even if they open another front, they will grit their teeth and hold on, but the Russians will not be able to do it, and the domestic organizational capacity will be almost to the limit.

If the battle line is increased, I am afraid that the woolly bear will also feel what is the lack of troops. Of course, this is not to say that they are short of troops, but that they cannot put troops to the front in a short period of time.

Not to mention logistical supplies, even if supplies could be obtained from Austria and transported to the front with their efficiency, the daylily would become cold.

One did not operate well, did bad things with good intentions, because the logistics and supplies were not in place, so that the Russians lost the war, and Franz could only cry with Nicholas I.