Montenegro

Since the outbreak of the war in the Near East, this small country has been boiling, and the whole country has been completely mobilized at the first time, and it is still men, women and children who go into battle together.

The people of Montenegro are proud, they are the only people in the Balkans who have not submitted to the Ottomans, and for hundreds of years they have been on the front lines of resistance against the Ottoman Empire.

This is a country where all the people are soldiers, and there is no need for the government to enforce it, and the people spontaneously take up arms and return to the establishment.

Shkodra is right in front of you, and I don't know how many times the Montenegrins have played here, it's different from what they used to, and their chances of winning are very good.

Not long ago, they and Austria successfully joined forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the problem of weapons and ammunition that constrained them was solved, and the combat effectiveness of the Montenegrin army was greatly increased.

Command of the Montenegrin Army

Commander-in-Chief Mirkov said cautiously: "I have just received a notification from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Horstar Arsenal is coming to test a batch of weapons.

Rasridge, you have a company of troops in charge of keeping your Austrian friends safe, and you must not let them slip up the cracks. ”

Mirkov was not careful, and now every rifle and every bullet in the Principality of Montenegro was supplied by Austria.

Now Austria has replaced the Russians as their most important ally, not one of them.

At this time, Austria asked to experiment with weapons on the battlefield, and they naturally could not refuse.

For the poor and white Duchy of Montenegro, no matter how good the weapons are, as long as they are useful, they are good. Now if they test weapons for Austria, they can get a batch of weapons and equipment for nothing, and in their opinion, they will make money.

As for the risk of using new weapons, can you use cold weapons to fight the Ottomans?

The number of equipment for combat testing is not small, for example, in this rifle test, 500 new rifles were directly shipped from the Hordas Arsenal. Equipping two Montenegrin infantry battalions will be put into this war for actual combat tests.

With a sad face, Rasridge said, "The Austrians are here again." Your Excellency, Commander, can you do it with someone else, I still want to fight the Ottomans? ”

Although Rasridge was only a regimental commander, the number of troops in the Principality of Montenegro was small, and his regimental commander became a high-ranking officer.

Seeing his colleagues fighting on the front line, he became the full-time chief of guard of the Austrian delegation because he knew German, and had already sent away three batches of weapons observation groups.

As a Montenegrin, how can you not be warlike? I finally waited for an opportunity, but it was disrupted by a sudden weapons test.

Mirkov glared at him and said solemnly: "Don't talk to me about the conditions, this matter is not negotiable." If the test is successful, we can pick up 500 rifles and a batch of ammunition for nothing, which can save tens of thousands of guilders for the country. ”

When it comes to funding, Lasridge has nothing to say. Tens of thousands of Austrian guilders may not seem like much, but for the Principality of Montenegro, this is their financial income for a month or two.

Weapon tests are not all successful, and many weapons and equipment have very superior performance during target shooting experiments, and all kinds of faults will be exposed once they reach the battlefield.

In order to encourage domestic arsenals to develop new weapons, the Austrian government is responsible for the cost of actual combat tests.

The major Austrian arsenals took advantage of this opportunity to send all kinds of weapons to the battlefield for testing.

The actual combat test is not only to test the performance of the weapon, but also to include logistics maintenance, the difficulty of weapon operation on the battlefield, and so on.

There are successes, but there are many more failures. Many weapons are very lethal, but their performance is not stable enough on the battlefield; Or the performance is stable, or the maintenance cost is too high.

……

Along the way, Holman Stelen was very shocked, the Duchy of Montenegro is completely a soldier, and he said in advance that he would send 20,000 troops, and he could be sure that the Montenegrins had overfulfilled their tasks.

Young and old, as long as they are active, they are all serving the war. Along the way, he saw that the supplies being transported to the front line were being passed forward from village to village, just like a relay race.

It is almost impossible to see the young and strong, and it is done by the old and weak women and children from beginning to end. The old ones are already losing their teeth, and the younger ones are still a few years old, and they are all busy.

"Mr. Rasridge, where are the young men in your country?" Holman Stelen asked, confused

Lasridge rightly said, "It's all on the battlefield!" ”

As if Holman Stelen didn't understand much, Lasridge added:

"This is our homeland, there is no danger, the logistics and transportation are all carried by the people, and after a while, you can see our army."

Holman Stelen didn't speak, just silently recorded what he saw in his notebook and moved on.

Upon arriving at the front, Holman Stelen also spotted the female soldiers. Obviously, for the sake of this war, the Principality of Montenegro has gambled on its national fortunes, and they have pressed all their chips.

This war in the Near East was just a local war for Austria, and the final result of the war was nothing more than the size of Austria's gains, and the Ottomans did not dare to retaliate anyway.

For the Russians, it is only a strategic battle, and it is not enough to live and die, and the Russians have not yet reached the point of desperateness.

If you lose, it's a big deal to come back in a few decades, the Russians have lost a lot of their great cause, and the Russian-Turkish war has been fought so many times, and they don't care about adding one more.

Only the Principality of Montenegro gambled on its national fortune, and if it wins, it will develop and grow, and if it loses, everything will rest.

Holman Staylen understood the Montenegrin approach, and their hatred with the Ottomans was no longer unsolvable. In hundreds of years, this time was the closest they came to victory.

The Ottoman Empire had declined, and now it was at war with Austria and Russia at the same time, and if it had not been for the intervention of Britain and France, the war would have been over.

This kind of opportunity, Montenegrins naturally want to gamble. As a Balkan nation, if you don't dare to gamble on the fortunes of the country, is it still a Balkan nation?

The only pity is that the population of Montenegro is too small, if there are 10 million people, not only 5 million people, they can drive the Ottomans out of the Balkans and establish their own empire.

Thinking of this, Holman Stelen smiled slightly. If the Duchy of Montenegro had such a large population, they would not have become an ally of Austria.

The entire Balkan Peninsula has a population of just over 13 million, half of which is in the Istanbul area.

The remaining regions have two million in Bulgaria, nearly a million in the Kingdom of Greece, more than 900,000 in Serbia, more than one million in each of the Danube principalities, more than 1 million in Macedonia, hundreds of thousands in Albania, and hundreds of thousands in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

No matter how hard the Principality of Montenegro tries, their population limit determines their development ceiling.

It is impossible to be a threat to Austria, then everyone can be good friends. For example, support the development of the Principality of Montenegro in the Albani region, and support a nail to prevent the unification of the Balkans.

Holman Stelen shook his head, dispelling these thoughts. This is a question that politicians should consider, and he, a weapons designer, has already crossed the line by considering this.

……

The war soon began, and through the telescope, Holman Styren and his party watched as the Montenegrin army launched an attack on the Ottoman positions.

Artillery roared, and flesh and blood flew everywhere.

Holman Stelen was paying no attention to it, and he was smiling with satisfaction from time to time as he observed the actual combat capabilities of the new rifle.

When firing at the platoon gun, because they can be reloaded on their backs, the casualties of soldiers equipped with these new rifles are obviously much smaller.

Although the combat lethality is slightly lower, it makes up for this shortcoming by the higher accuracy in close combat.

As long as you hit the enemy within the effective range, you can do effective killing, this is not a sniper rifle, the chance of hitting the enemy from a long distance is too small, and it doesn't matter if the lethality is small.

The first round of testing was a success, and Holman Stelen breathed a sigh of relief that as long as the standards were met in the following maintenance, the requirements would be met preliminarily.

Compared with Holman Steyron's satisfaction, Rasridge next to him frowned. He had more contact with the Austrian weapons test team, and he inevitably learned some professional knowledge.

"Mr. Holman, is the ammunition consumption of this rifle a little too much? Have you noticed that its high hit rate is actually based on the consumption of ammunition. ”

Holman Stelen involuntarily asked, "Is the ammunition consumption high?" ”

"Of course, a normal rifle usually shoots two or three rounds per minute, but this rifle can fire about ten rounds per minute," Lasridge replied affirmatively.

That is, the consumption of ammunition has increased several times, but the hit rate has only increased slightly, and of course our casualties have decreased somewhat.

Such a gun is too expensive to use, and we can't afford it anyway. I'm afraid that its manufacturing cost will not be low. ”

Holman Stelen nodded, and recorded all of this in his notebook. The amount of ammunition consumed is too high, and it is also very deadly in war, which means that logistics are more difficult to replenish.

For the Principality of Montenegro, this breech rifle is too expensive, and they cannot support it either financially or industrially, and they are not equipped with it.

However, this is not necessarily the case for Austria, where the consumption of ammunition of this intensity has not yet exceeded the limits of its endurance.

The birth of breech-loading rifles also meant an increase in the cost of war, and the gap in strength between industrial and weak countries was once again widened.

Without strong industrial strength, it simply cannot support the horrific ammunition consumption of future wars.

If in this war in the Near East, both warring parties were equipped with breech-loading rifles, the Russians would not be able to support this war at all.

Fighting for attrition, Russia and Austria are really not opponents of Britain and France. Now it is still able to withstand it, in addition to preparing in advance, there is also the fact that the ammunition consumption of breech rifles is not so large.

"Mr. Rasridge, I can see that you are very experienced in weapons testing, whether you are interested in joining our team, the salary will definitely satisfy you." Holman Stelen invited

Weapons testing on the battlefield is a high-risk job. Doing this job, I don't know when, I will be hit by a stray bullet flying from an unknown place.

High risk is naturally accompanied by a high income, at least several times higher than the salary of Lasridge, the head of the Principality of Montenegro.

No, it could be dozens of times. Due to financial difficulties, the salaries of officers and soldiers in the Principality of Montenegro were very low, and most of the time they were not paid military salaries.

This is not a coercion, but a spontaneous abandonment of military salaries. Unless the family really can't get by, they will generally take the initiative to give up their salary.

Rasridge smiled and refused, "Thank you, Mr. Holman." But I don't think so, it's not about money.

In this world, there are many things that are more important than money. Now my homeland is fighting a bloody war with the Ottomans, and centuries of shame need to be washed away with blood.

For me, the defeat of the Ottoman Empire is my goal in life. If this goal is accomplished, I will reconsider my life. ”

Holman Staylen bowed and said, "Mr. Rasridge, please forgive my presumptuousness. You are a real military man and should not be insulted by money. ”

At this moment, Holman Styren really recognized Lasridge, or the Duchy of Montenegro.

They may not be strong enough, but their spirit of fighting for the sake of the country and the nation and fighting the Ottoman Empire for hundreds of years and never wavering in their faith deserves everyone's respect.

After the hiccup, Holman Stelen and his party changed their minds about them. There is no longer the arrogance of the past, and the relationship between the two sides is much better.