Chapter 542

Montenegro

Ever since the war broke out in the Near East, this small country had been in an uproar. The entire country was mobilized at the first instance, and men, women, old and young were all there.

The people of Montenegro were proud. They were the only people in the Balkans who did not surrender to the Osman. For hundreds of years, they had been on the frontlines against the Osman Empire.

This was a country where everyone was a soldier. Without the government's mandatory requirement, the people picked up their weapons and returned to the system.

Skutai was right in front of them. They did not know how many times the people of Montenegro had fought here. This was different from the past. This time, their chances of winning were very high.

Not long ago, they had successfully met up with Austria in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The problem of their weapons and ammunition had been solved, and the Montenegro army's combat power had increased greatly.

Montenegro Army Headquarters

Commander-in-chief Milkov said cautiously, "I just received a notice from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Holsta Arsenal is coming over to test a batch of weapons.

Lasrich, you will take a company of troops and be in charge of the safety of our Austrian friends. We cannot let anything happen to them. "

Mirkov had no choice but to be cautious. Every rifle and bullet in the Principality of Montenegro was supplied by Austria.

Austria had now replaced the Russians as their most important ally, second to none.

At this time, they could not refuse Austria's request to test weapons on the battlefield.

For the poor Montenegro, it did not matter how good the weapons were. As long as they were useful, it was good enough. Now that they could test weapons for Austria, they could get a batch of weapons and equipment for free. In their eyes, it was a profit.

As for the risk of using new weapons, could it be compared to using cold weapons to fight the Osman?

The number of equipment for the actual combat test was not small. For example, for the rifle test, Holsta Arsenal had directly shipped 500 new rifles. They were equipped with two Montenegro infantry battalions and were about to enter the war for actual combat testing.

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

Although Lasrich was only a regiment commander, the Montenegro army was small, and he had become a high-ranking officer.

Seeing his colleagues fighting at the frontlines, he became the full-time guard captain of the Austrian delegation because he knew German. He had already sent away three groups of weapons observation teams.

As a Montenegro, how could he not be warlike? It was not easy to wait for an opportunity, but it was ruined by the sudden weapon test.

Milkov glared at him and said sternly, "Don't try to bargain with me. There's no room for negotiation. If the test is successful, we'll be able to pick up another 500 rifles and a batch of ammunition, saving the country tens of thousands of dong. "

Lasrich had nothing to say when it came to the funding. Tens of thousands of Austrian Guilders didn't seem like much, but for the Principality of Montenegro, it was their income for one or two months.

Not all weapons could be tested successfully. Many weapons and equipment had excellent performance during target practice, but once they were put on the battlefield, all sorts of problems would be exposed.

In order to encourage domestic munitions factories to develop new weapons, the Austrian government was responsible for paying for the actual combat testing costs.

Austria's factories took this opportunity to send all kinds of weapons. to the battlefield out the World.

The combat test did not only test the performance of the weapons, but also the maintenance of logistics, the difficulty of operating the weapons on the battlefield, and so on.

There were successes, but there were more failures. Many weapons were very lethal, but their performance was not stable enough on the battlefield. If their performance was stable, then the maintenance costs were too high.

…

Along the way, Holman Stellen was very shocked. Every citizen of Montenegro Principality was a soldier. They had agreed to send out 20,000 soldiers, and he was sure that the Montenegrins had exceeded the quota.

Old and young, as long as they could move, they were all serving the war. Along the way, he saw that the supplies that were being transported to the frontline were being passed from village to village, just like a relay race.

There were barely any young adults. From beginning to end, it was done by the old, weak, women, and children. The old ones were about to lose their teeth, while the young ones were only a few years old. They were all busy.

"Mr. Lasrich, where are the young adults in your country?" Holman Stallen asked doubtfully.

Lasrich said matter-of-factly, "They're all on the battlefield!"

As if noticing that Holman Stellen didn't quite understand, Lasrich added,

"This is our homeland. There's no danger. The logistics and transportation are all handled by the people. After a while, you'll see our army."

Holman Stallen didn't say anything. He just silently recorded what he saw in his notebook and continued to walk.

After arriving at the frontline, Holman Stallen also saw the figures of female soldiers. Obviously, for this war, Montenegro Principality had gambled their fate. They had put all their chips on the line.

The war in the Near East was just a local war for Austria. The final result of the war was nothing more than Austria's gains. Anyway, the Osman didn't dare to take revenge.

For the Russians, it was just a strategic war. It wasn't a matter of life and death. The Russians hadn't reached the point of risking their lives.

If they lost, they could just come back in a few decades. Russia could afford to lose. They had fought so many wars with Turkey, so they didn't mind adding another one.

Only Montenegro Principality had gambled their fate. If they won, they would develop and grow. If they lost, everything would be over.

Holman Stallen understood what the Montenegrins were doing. The hatred between them and the Osman was irreconcilable. In hundreds of years, this was the closest they had come to victory.

The Osman Empire had declined. Now, they were at war with Austria and Russia. If it wasn't for the intervention of Britain and France, the war would have ended.

Montenegro naturally had to take this opportunity. As a Balkan nation, if they didn't dare to gamble their fate, would they still be a Balkan nation?

The only pity was that Montenegro had too little population. If they had ten million people, not just five million, they could drive the Osman out of the Balkans and build their own empire.

Thinking of this, Holman Stallen smiled. If Montenegro had so many people, they wouldn't have become Austria's ally.

The entire Balkans had a population of just over 13 million, and less than half of the population was in the Istanbul area.

Bulgaria had two million people, Greece had nearly a million people, Serbia had more than 900,000 people, the two Danube Principalities had more than a million people each, Macedonia had more than a million people, Albania had a few hundred thousand people, and Bosnia and Herzegovina had a few hundred thousand people.

No matter how hard Montenegro Principality worked, their population limit determined the upper limit of their development.

They couldn't become a threat to Austria, so everyone could be good friends. For example, supporting Montenegro Principality's development in the Albanian region, supporting a nail to prevent the The Balkans from being unified.

Holman Stallen shook his head and dispelled these thoughts. This was a problem that politicians should consider. As a weapon designer, he had already crossed the line by thinking about this.

…

The war soon began. Holman Stallen and his team watched through the telescope as the Montenegrin army launched an attack on the Osman's position.

Artillery fire roared and blood and flesh flew everywhere.

Holman Stallen couldn't care less about these. He was observing the combat ability of the new rifles. From time to time, he revealed a satisfied smile.

When firing at each other, because they could lie down and reload, the casualties of the soldiers who were equipped with these new rifles were obviously much lower.

Although the combat lethality was slightly lower, the advantage of a higher hit rate in close-range combat made up for this shortcoming.

As long as they could hit the enemy within the effective range, they could achieve effective damage. This was not a sniper rifle. The probability of hitting the enemy from a long distance was too low. It didn't matter if the lethality was lower.

The first round of testing was considered a success. Holman Stallen heaved a sigh of relief. As long as the following maintenance reached the standard, it would be considered to have preliminarily met the requirements.

Compared to Holman Stallen's satisfaction, Lasrich, who was next to him, frowned. After interacting with the people of the Austrian weapons test team, he inevitably learned some professional knowledge.

"Mr. Holman, isn't the ammunition consumption of this rifle a little too high? Have you noticed that its high hit rate is actually based on the consumption of ammunition? "

Holman Stallen couldn't help but ask, "Is the ammunition consumption very high?"

Lasrich answered with certainty, "Of course. Ordinary rifles usually fire two or three bullets per minute, but this rifle can actually fire more than ten bullets per minute.

That is to say, the ammunition consumption has increased several times, but the hit rate has only increased slightly. Of course, our casualties have decreased a little.

This kind of rifle is really too expensive to use. Anyway, we can't afford it. I'm afraid its production cost is also not low. "

Holman Stallen nodded and recorded all this information in his notebook. The high consumption of ammunition was also very fatal in the war, which meant that the logistical supply difficulty increased.

For Montenegro Principality, this kind of breech-loading rifle consumed too much energy. Whether it was their financial resources or industrial strength, they couldn't afford it. They didn't have the ability to equip it.

But for Austria, this might not be the case. The ammunition consumption of this kind of strength did not exceed the limit that they could bear.

The birth of the breech-loading rifle also meant that the cost of war had increased. The strength gap between the industrial power and the weak countries had once again widened.

Without a strong industrial strength, it was impossible to support the terrifying ammunition consumption of the future war.

If both sides of the war in the Near East had changed to the breech-loading rifle, Russia wouldn't be able to withstand the war at all.

In terms of consumption, Russia and Austria really weren't a match for Britain and France. Now, they could still bear it. Other than the preparation in advance, the ammunition consumption of the breech-loading rifle wasn't that high.

"Mr. Lasrich, I can see that you are very experienced in weapon testing. Are you interested in joining our team? The salary will definitely satisfy you." Holman Stallen invited.

Weapon testing on the battlefield was a high-risk job. Doing this job, you didn't know when you would be hit by a stray bullet flying from nowhere.

High risk naturally came with high income, at least a few times higher than the salary of Lasrich, the commander of Montenegro Principality.

No, it could also be dozens of times. Due to financial difficulties, the treatment of the soldiers of Montenegro Principality was very low. Most of the time, they didn't receive a salary.

This wasn't forced, but everyone voluntarily gave up their salary. Unless their family really couldn't live on, under normal circumstances, they would take the initiative to give up their salary.

Lasrich smiled and refused, "Thank you, Mr. Holman. But I don't think it's necessary. It's not a matter of money.

In this world, there are many things more important than money. Right now, my country is fighting a bloody war with the Osman, and we need to wash away the centuries of humiliation with blood.

For me, defeating the Osman Empire is the goal of my life. If this goal is achieved, I will reconsider my life. "

Holman Stallen bowed and said, "Mr. Lasrich, please forgive me for being presumptuous. You are a true soldier, and you shouldn't be insulted by money. "

At this moment, Holman Stallen really recognized Lasrich, or rather, Montenegro Principality.

Perhaps they weren't strong enough, but for their country and people, they persisted in fighting the Osman Empire for hundreds of years. Their unwavering faith was worthy of everyone's respect.

After the small episode, Holman Stallen and his team changed their view of them. They no longer had the arrogance of the past, and the relationship between the two sides was much better.