On September 21, 1889, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia submitted a declaration of war to the Britannia ambassador in St. Peter's Castle. After the end of the First Near Eastern War, Britain and Russia once again went to the battlefield.
This time, there was enough time. The Russian Army launched an attack three days after the declaration of war, which was in full compliance with international law.
Of course, this was not because the Tsarist government followed the rules. It was mainly because the Regions of Afghanistan were deep inland. The British had not yet had time to lay a cable telegraph, and it would take more than a week for the message to be delivered.
Inside the Government of the United Kingdom building, Prime Minister Gladstone frowned and asked, "Didn't you say that the Russians were not ready for war? Why did the war break out in advance?"
Britannia was not a fool. While preparing for war, they did not forget to collect intelligence on the Russians' preparations.
Just yesterday, someone had promised Prime Minister Gladstone that the Russians would need at least three months to prepare for war.
It was now late September. In less than three months, the Russian Empire would be covered with snow and ice. Generally speaking, the Tsarist government would not launch a war at this time.
In the end, the Government of the United Kingdom concluded that the war would break out in March or April next year, and the preparation work was carried out according to this progress.
Foreign Minister George replied very gloomily, "The Russians are indeed not ready for war. Our intelligence agents lurking in the Russian Empire have confirmed it many times.
The war broke out in advance. Perhaps the Tsarist government was aware of our plan and took the initiative. "
There was no problem with the intelligence, and the Government of the United Kingdom's judgment was also logical. How could the Russians not play by the rules?
After such a thing happened, no one present could escape accountability. Prime Minister Gladstone naturally would not pursue it further.
After a moment of contemplation, Prime Minister Gladstone asked uncertainly, "The Russians launched the war in advance. Can our troops in the Regions of Afghanistan hold?"
In recent decades, the wars between Britannia and the European powers had all ended in failure. Even when dealing with the indigenous people of Afghanistan, they suffered heavy losses.
Now that they were about to go to war with Russia, Prime Minister Gladstone found it hard to have confidence in the Army, which had a series of glorious achievements.
Defeating the Russians was, of course, the best choice, but Prime Minister Gladstone did not think that the frontline troops were that powerful. Otherwise, he would not have asked for more troops.
At this time, Prime Minister Gladstone had to be glad that he had thrown the issue of reinforcements to the parliament.
If the reinforcements did not arrive in time and the frontline suffered heavy losses, the parliament would have to shoulder most of the responsibility.
Minister of War Rosario shook his head. "The Russians are aggressive. They won't stop until they conquer the Regions of Afghanistan.
The Prussian War was a good example. At its peak, Russia had mobilized four to five million troops, but the frontline troops were maintained at two million.
Although Central Asia was not like Eastern Europe, and Russia could not invest millions of troops, it was still possible to invest 300,000 to 500,000 troops.
If the troops in the Regions of Afghanistan are all elite soldiers, I can guarantee that they will be able to defend the Regions of Afghanistan and even have the strength to launch a counterattack.
However, the problem is that most of our troops in the Regions of Afghanistan are Indian colonial divisions, and their combat power is less than one-tenth of the main force.
Unless the Russians don't invest more than 200,000 troops in the attack, it will be difficult for us to gain an advantage. "
Could the Russians invest less than 200,000 troops?
That was obviously impossible. The Tsarist government had invested more than 600,000 troops in the attack on the Three Khaganates of Central Asia.
Next, they would fight with Britannia for the Regions of Afghanistan. Unless the Tsarist government was out of its mind, they would only invest tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of troops.
After a pause, Rosario added, "The war has already broken out. In view of the complicated situation in the Regions of Afghanistan, the Ministry of War has proposed to expand 60 infantry divisions, 20 artillery regiments, two cavalry divisions …"
Before Rosario could finish, the Minister of the Navy, Sir Astley Cooper Key, interrupted forcefully, "Your Excellency, are you kidding? Not long ago, the army had just expanded by three infantry divisions, and the total strength of the army has reached an astonishing 300,000.
According to the current expansion plan of the Ministry of War, the total strength of the army has to exceed the million mark.
As far as I know, the Regions of Afghanistan are mountainous, which is not conducive for the movement of the army. The Russians will invest at most 300,000 to 500,000 troops. Any more than that and the logistics alone will be enough to kill them.
We already have the advantage, and the troops in the front line can rely on the terrain to build fortifications on the spot for defense. We don't need many troops at all.
A million troops, Your Excellency, are you planning to fight all the way from Central Asia to Moscow? "
He had no choice but to object. Britannia's military budget was not unlimited. If the army took more, the navy would take less.
Because of the war in Afghanistan, the Government of the United Kingdom stopped the arms race, and the navy had long been dissatisfied.
Now that the army had jumped out to snatch resources in the name of war, Sir Astley Cooper Key could not stand it anymore!
As for the need for war, that in itself was a fallacy. Different strategies required different amounts of manpower.
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Childes said, "Sir Astley is right. The battlefield in Afghanistan doesn't need that many troops at all, and we don't have the ability to support millions of troops fighting in Afghanistan.
The army is not our strength to begin with, and it is simply unrealistic to fight with the Russians in the Regions of Afghanistan.
What we need is to defend the Regions of Afghanistan and stop the idea of the Russians going south, not to fight a decisive battle with the Russians in Central Asia.
The Indian Colonial Army can also be used for pure defense. We can have as many such troops as we want. Even if there are heavy casualties, there won't be any trouble, and the cost will be much lower. "
Rosario didn't expect the government to agree to his demand, and thus, it was to be expected that they would object.
"I'm afraid the two of you don't understand the seriousness of the problem. War is not a game, and the enemy will not go according to our plan. The fact that the Russians started the war in advance is proof of that.
The troops at the front line can't fight forever. The troops need to be rotated and replenished. We must have enough reserves.
The Ministry of the Army calculated according to the ratio of 3: 3: 4. 300,000 combat troops will be put into the frontline, another 300,000 will be stationed in India, and they can be reinforced and rotated at any time. 400,000 troops will be prepared in the country to deal with emergencies.
Based on the casualties of the Prussian War, such a troop allocation is actually very small, and we still need the Indian Colonial Army to supplement it.
The expansion of the army can't be completed in a day or two, and the situation on the battlefield is constantly changing. We must consider the worst case scenario.
… "
Admiral Sir Astley Cooper Key said, "Ridiculous, the army has to be prepared to fail from the beginning, could it be …"
Seeing that the quarrel was escalating, Prime Minister Gladstone stopped it and said, "Enough! The Russians have already attacked. If you continue arguing, everyone will be ready to collect the corpses of the troops at the front line!
Order the Governor of India to form another 500,000 troops, and authorize Governor Lytton to send troops to reinforce the battlefield in Afghanistan at any time according to the changes in the situation at the front line.
In addition, transfer seven infantry divisions from the mainland, and one each from Canada, Australia, and New Zealand to reinforce the Regions of Afghanistan immediately.
The army will immediately begin to expand by 400,000 troops first, and if necessary, we will discuss it later according to the actual situation. "
Initially, Prime Minister Gladstone wanted to reinforce 20 infantry divisions at the front line in one go, but there weren't that many troops in the country.
If he wanted to continue to increase troops in the mainland, he would have to wait until the expansion was completed. For now, he could only let the Indian Colonial Army hold the fort.
The plan to expand the army was cut in the middle. Rosario was originally going to continue fighting for it, but after glancing at the expressions of the people, he decisively chose to give up.
It was already very difficult to get everyone to agree to the expansion of the army. If things went too far, these guys might feel that the army was too expensive, and want to use the cheap colonial army to fight the Russians.
Although Rosario tried to belittle the combat effectiveness of the colonial army, there were actually a few troops in the British colonial system that could fight.
Their combat effectiveness was not comparable to the main force of the British army, but that was because the colonial army's weapons and equipment were too poor. If they were to really change into the same equipment, it would still be unknown who was stronger and who was weaker.
The Government of the United Kingdom didn't use these powerful and cheap troops wantonly, not because everyone didn't want to, but mainly because they were worried about loyalty.
It was not a joke to be arrogant. These guys with strong combat effectiveness didn't have as good a temper as the Indian Colonial Army. If they were not careful, there would be trouble.
Everyone still understood the principle of nurturing a tiger to cause trouble. There were so many colonies in Britannia, but there hadn't been a situation where a place became big, and that was because of this caution.
…
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