Chapter 233 Good Idea = Bad Idea
On the Crimean Peninsula, Britain, France and Russia continued to fight, to be precise, Britain and France were attacking, and the Russians were defending with all their strength.
The disadvantage of weapons and equipment is a flaw. Unlike the Russian army on the Balkans, all of them are equipped with arcane equipment, which is 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 domestic second-line army, and it was rushed to fight. Coupled with the corruption of the bureaucratic system of the tsarist government, multiple factors caused their tragedy.
In fact, at this time, Nicholas I had decided to completely replace the arcane equipment, but because of the introduction of production lines in China, the bureaucrats who were pitting teammates gave the order to domestic military enterprises.
It takes time for production lines to be debugged, and it takes time to retrain workers, even in times of peace. Now is the time of war, and the Russian army on the battlefield can't wait!
Up to now, the Russians have not been able to exert their production capacity to the peak. According to their speed, the Russian army in the Crimea Peninsula has to be completely changed, which cannot be done in one or two years.
General Fitzroy Somerset, who had just been transferred to the commander-in-chief of the Crimean Peninsula, was furious. When he was fighting in the Balkans, he didn't feel that there was something missing, and he could directly purchase it from Austria.
When he got here, he discovered that the logistics of the Russian army was so bad, not only that the new weapons were not replaced in time, but even ordinary logistics materials often made mistakes.
Fortunately, the opposing coalition forces are not as strong as those encountered on the Balkans, and the battle for Constantinople is still meaningful, at least the French elite forces are contained.
Fitzroy Somerset thought for a while and said: "Send a report to St. Petersburg, explain our situation, and ask the country to replenish our supplies immediately.
If the logistics supply cannot be guaranteed, then the Crimea Peninsula can only be abandoned and the Ukrainian coastal areas will be retreated. "
It doesn't matter if there is a lack of doctors and medicines, anyway, the gray animals are worthless, and he doesn't feel distressed when they die. Without guns and guns, this is unbearable, and there is nothing to do, so how can we fight?
As for whether it will offend people, Fitzroy Somerset can't care so much anymore. If he loses the battle, he will be finished, no matter how serious the consequences are.
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 main means of transport of the Russian army on the Crimean Peninsula are ox carts. This time and space is still good. The Russians are relatively well prepared and have hoarded a batch of supplies in the coastal areas, and there are many on the Crimean Peninsula.
Even if they were floated by the bureaucrats, it was useless for them to hold these supplies, and they had to sell them to the Tsar in the end, so Fitzroy Somerset didn't have to worry about food.
There is no way for weapons and equipment. Since the tsarist government has decided to change their clothes, they don't know where they are abandoned.
The same weapon and equipment, produced by the Russian arsenal, will inevitably increase a little in weight, and the failure rate is also a little higher, but it is absolutely durable.
Fitzroy Somerset isn't picky either, as long as he has it. Now put pressure on the St. Petersburg government to speed up the supply speed. If domestic production is too late, hurry up and buy it!
In any case, the Russians on the Crimean Peninsula dare not give up. Once Britain and France gain a firm foothold here, the Black Sea will have nothing to do with them.
Presumably the British don't mind paying for the annual military bill in order to fight their biggest rivals. As long as the Crimean peninsula is blocked, Mao Xiong will not only end the strategy of the Near East, but also hold half of the import and export trade in their hands.
It doesn't take long to hold on, at most three or five years, the European hegemony of the Russian Empire will collapse, and then instigating the independence of Poland, the British strategy will succeed.
Of course, this kind of good thing is obviously not so easy to succeed, at least Franz will not agree, he is now ready to cause some trouble for the British.
The Russians cannot fall, at least not until the internal integration of the New Holy Roman Empire is complete, otherwise they will have their tails tucked into their heads.
Franz asked with concern: "Marshal, is there any way to get the Russians to conquer Constantinople?"
In Franz's view, the easiest place to break the battlefield in the Near East is Constantinople. As long as the Russians conquer here, the war will not go on.
The narrowest part of the Bosphorus is 750 meters, and the widest part is 3.7 kilometers. As long as a group of shore artillery is provided to Russia to deploy on the shore, the Black Sea is isolated from the sea passage from the outside world.
There is no sea channel connection, and the transportation of the Ottoman Empire is comparable to that of the Russians. If the supplies are transported by land from the Asia Minor Peninsula, there must be a problem with the logistical supply of the British and French forces on the Crimea Peninsula. Law.
Marshal Radesky analyzed: "Your Majesty, Constantinople was originally a fortress city, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
If you want to attack directly, you can only rely on strength. It is only possible to break through the city until it reaches the limit that the French army can bear.
The most correct choice for the Russians now is to mobilize a large number of artillery pieces to bombard Constantinople. No matter how strong the fortress is, there are limits.
The Ottoman Empire has long since decayed, and Constantinople has not been threatened for a hundred years. They have long since relaxed the upgrading of the city's fortifications.
after the outbreak of the Near Eastern War. The Ottoman government has only carried out emergency repairs and reinforcements, but the time is still too short, and this is the opportunity for the Russians.
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Most of these fortifications were unable to withstand heavy artillery attacks. As long as the Russians are willing to spend their money and get hundreds of heavy artillery to knock it bit by bit, they can break the tortoise shell. "
This is a pure stupid way, completely pressing people, but it is the only feasible way now.
The problem is that Britain and France can also get a lot of artillery to fight the Russians. It is estimated that Constantinople cannot be breached without dying.
The artillery hit rate in this era is very low. The Russian army only needs to disperse the artillery positions and bombard the city of Constantinople. The target is so big that the artillery can always be shot in. Britain and France want to destroy the Russian artillery positions. It's hard.
Franz felt that casualties could not scare the Russians, and that military spending might have dragged down the Russians first. Just a few hundred heavy artillery pieces can’t be done without tens of millions of rubles, and dozens of tons of ammunition are needed for a salvo.
Since the bombardment effect is to be achieved, it is only a common operation to shoot out thousands of tons of ammunition a day. To bring down Constantinople, God knows how much ammo it will take in the end.
But if you don't fight like this, according to the current attack method of the Russians, the exchange ratio is 4 to 1. Even if the gray animals are worthless, they can't stand such consumption?
According to the current situation, Franz can say with certainty that the Tsarist government will be forced to give up because of too many casualties.
Franz thought for a while and said, "The staff will organize a plan and pass it on to the Tsarist government. Let them go if you need it!"
He didn't believe that no smart person in the Russian government could see that blindly taking people's lives to fill the huge pit of Constantinople without the advantage of firepower was completely an act of courting death.
According to information received by Franz, since the outbreak of the Battle of Constantinople, the number of Russian casualties has approached the sum of the two Bulgarian battles.
St. Petersburg is preparing to replace Menshkov. Under the command of this "genius" commander, Russian casualties have always been high.
This plan is not for the St. Petersburg government, but for Menshkov, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Balkans. If he doesn’t want to return to St. Petersburg in despair, he will definitely consider Austria’s suggestion.
As a high-level general of the Russian army, no one can bear the temptation to conquer Constantinople. As long as this great undertaking is completed, it will be recorded in Russian history as a Russian "national hero".
Not only are the Russians interested, in fact Franz also wants to accomplish this great cause, the Habsburg Dynasty and the Ottoman Empire are also feuding, and conquering Constantinople can also bring them a lot of political prestige.
Most countries in Europe have special feelings for this city. Now the French help the Ottomans to guard Constantinople. Franz is sure that if there is a chance, Napoleon III will not mind taking the city.
The accomplishment of this great deed is no less than the prestige brought by defeating the Russians. If the Battle of Crimea fails, Napoleon III will probably directly swallow Constantinople to save the political disaster caused by the failure of the war.
Most of the London government will acquiesce to this happening, and Constantinople in the hands of the French is better than the hands of the Russians. France and Russia are fighting to the death, and the British are definitely happy to see it happen.
If possible, Franz wouldn't mind pushing it to make the hatred between France and Russia deeper.
It is a pity that the Russians did not live up to their expectations, the bureaucrats of the tsarist government dragged their feet, and the hope of the Russian army winning the war on the Crimean Peninsula was too slim.
Failing to do this, Franz could only hope that the Russians would break out and conquer Constantinople, and in one fell swoop the hatred between Britain and France would be brought to full value.
Marshal Radsky's method was undoubtedly the most effective method from the standpoint of the Vienna government. In fact, for the Russians, it was a bad idea from beginning to end.
The reason is very simple, the war consumes too much, and it is not suitable for an agricultural country like Maoxiong.
This style of play easily exceeds the endurance limit of the Russian Empire. Even if they conquer Constantinople, they will be unable to carry out the next strategy due to exhaustion of financial resources.
After all, what about the Dardanelles? Just mastering one Bosphorus Strait is not enough for the Russians to control the Black Sea Strait. Moreover, they have only mastered half of the Bosphorus Strait after winning Constantinople.
From a strategic point of view, now dividing up the Gallipoli Peninsula and blocking the Dardanelles can also end the war.
Not everywhere has a Constantinople, and it is definitely more difficult to guard the Gallipoli Peninsula than to guard Constantinople.
Even if it is unable to capture this place, a divided 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 is too great, and the Russians could not resist this temptation, so they went straight up.
Naturally, it is impossible for Franz to remind the Russians that the war in the Near East ended prematurely and failed to consume the strength of Britain, France and Russia to the maximum extent, which is not in the interests of the new Holy Roman Empire.
Moreover, no matter how good the strategy is, people need to implement it. 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 no doubt that they want to make a surprise attack on Britain and France. Now there are only a few Ottoman garrison regiments on the Gallipoli Peninsula, which can easily be broken through.
Once Britain and France reacted, the coalition forces attacking the Greeks could immediately reinforce the Gallipoli Peninsula, and it would be another big battle.
Great Britain and France have strong national strength. Even if they open another front, they will hold on to their teeth, and the Russians will not be able to.
Now, the domestic organizational capacity is about to reach its limit.
If there are more fronts, I am afraid Mao Xiong will also feel what is the lack of troops. Of course, this does not mean that they are short of troops, but that they cannot put troops into the front line in a short period of time.
Not to mention logistical supplies, even if the supplies can be obtained from Austria and transported to the front line with their efficiency, the daylily has become cold.
A bad operation, good intentions and bad things, because the logistical supplies were not in place, the Russians lost the war, and Franz had to cry with Nicholas I.