Chapter 602

Vienna

After the Hollster factory's new rifle passed the actual combat test, it entered the Austrian army's list of candidates and was named the Styron M1852 rifle.

This seemed to be a European habit. Designers always liked to name their weapons after themselves.

These were all small problems, and Franz was not interested in getting to the bottom of it. Entering the army's list of candidates did not mean that they could equip it on a large scale.

The breech-loading rifle had been around for more than 30 years. The earliest was the American Hall M1819. Unfortunately, this rifle's bullets would fly to the left after 45.7 meters.

Then there was the Draisel M1841 from Prussia. The Prussia army had already begun to equip it, but many generals were against it. Obviously, its performance had not conquered the public.

This rifle shone in the Prussian War and the Prussian War of 1864. Of course, its advantage over the preloaded rifle was not as amazing as later generations claimed.

This could be seen from the fact that the Prussia army was not fully equipped.

Although the firing rate was four to five times that of the preloaded rifle, its firing pin was easily damaged. The first industrially produced M1841 was ridiculed and said, "Don't go to the battlefield without a spare firing pin."

The breech often leaked air, and the leaking gas could easily interfere with shooting. In serious cases, it could burn the skin, and if unlucky, it could even blind the gunner.

Later on, the production technology was improved, and its performance gradually stabilized. The Draisel M1841 began to shine.

Franz had come across many similar rifles. Many rifles had excellent performance in the laboratory, but once it was produced on a large scale, it would not work.

Either the cost was too high, or the performance was reduced. This was not a nuclear weapon, so Franz naturally had to consider the cost. Sacrificing performance was even more undesirable. Was there a need to equip a rifle without performance advantages?

Until the Styron M1852 came out. In terms of performance, it was similar to the historical Chassebeau rifle, but the effective range was a little shorter.

These were all small problems. It was enough to ensure an effective range of 650 meters. The furthest it could go was more than 1,500 meters. It was also good to scare people from a distance.

Franz had always believed that in actual combat, those who could accurately hit the enemy within 150 meters were excellent soldiers. Farther away, it was better to rely on instinct!

"Marshal, what do you think of this rifle? Should we upgrade it?" Franz asked.

Marshal Radski laughed and replied, "Your Majesty, from the data collected, the effect is not bad. It has the value of large-scale equipment.

However, the price of this rifle is 30% higher than normal rifles, and the ammunition consumption may be two or three times higher. "

Obviously, Marshal Radski was experienced. He did not expect this rifle to be able to fire the theoretical limit of 15 rounds on the battlefield. Otherwise, the increase in ammunition consumption would not be this small.

Franz said calmly, "It's acceptable to increase the cost. After the large-scale industrial production, the cost will decrease. As long as its power is worth the price, it's fine.

If we immediately give the order to concentrate on mass production, there won't be any problem for the more than 20 munitions factories in Austria to produce 30,000 to 40,000 of these rifles per month. "

Thanks to the war in the Near East, Austria's military factories had expanded their production. Compared to a year ago, Austria's military production had increased by 50%.

If they were to produce rifles, they could easily produce 100,000 per month. Otherwise, the Russian army wouldn't have been able to upgrade their equipment so quickly.

If it works well on the battlefield, we can upgrade it. The Russian Army would not be able to upgrade so quickly. "

Marshal Radski said calmly, "Your Majesty, it's better to be cautious. Let's first purchase 100,000 rifles for trial.

Franz nodded. There was not enough time for them to change their equipment. Unless the entire country was mobilized now, there was still a lot of potential in Austria's military capabilities.

This was the same as when the automatic rifles were released. Everyone knew that they were good guns, but could the logistics support support them with such a terrifying amount of ammunition?

The limit of ammunition consumption would only be known when they fought on the battlefield. It was just like how the Montenegro Principality army had tested the rifle and was very satisfied with its performance. However, after seeing the terrifying amount of ammunition consumed, they no longer had the intention to purchase it.

That's right, the enemy could only shoot two or three times per minute. If you could shoot seven or eight times per minute, the probability of hitting the enemy would naturally be higher. However, the increase in accuracy was not two or three times. It was only 20% to 30%, and the enemy was not used to it yet. If they were used to it, it would continue to decrease.

On the surface, it did not seem like much. However, if you considered how many bullets were needed to kill an enemy, you would realize that you could not afford it without money.

In the era of the preloaded rifle, it took two digits of bullets to kill an enemy. In the era of the breech-loading rifle, it increased to four digits.

It could not be helped. The era of firing was over. Everyone was crawling on the ground, and it became more difficult to hit the enemy.

It couldn't be helped. The era of firing platoons was over. Everyone was crawling on the ground. It was even more difficult to hit the enemy. Later on, the appearance of trenches and machine guns increased the consumption of ammunition.

In the era of semi-automatic rifles, the number rose to five digits. Later on, using rounds as the unit of measurement was too large. It would be more appropriate to use tons as the unit of measurement.

In the era of the semi-automatic rifle, it increased to five digits.

… …

A Sardinian officer said indignantly, "General, the Russians are still biting us. What do we do now?"

They had leaked all the military intelligence of the British to the Russians, but they still dared to attack here. It was too much.

Mantua gritted his teeth and said, "We can't retreat now. This concerns our honor and the honor of the Kingdom of Sardinia.

You don't want to go back to the military court with the name of a defeated army, right? We must not be the first to lose our position now.

Since the Russians have gone too far, let's teach them a lesson and let the Russians know that we are not easy to bully.

Tell the soldiers that our salaries are still in the hands of the British. If we run away now, we will have wasted our efforts. If anyone dares to run away, I will kill him now. "

"Yes, General!" The young officer immediately replied.

Mantua added worriedly, "Wait a minute. Release the news in private. Say that the British are about to collapse. When their line of defense collapses, we will retreat immediately."

It turned out that the Sardinian army still had some fighting power when they fought with their lives on the line. The so-called heavy casualties depended on the standard.

If there were a few wounded, they could add two or three zeros to it. The higher the report, the heavier the casualties.

If anyone paid attention to the casualty report submitted by the Sardinian army to the allied forces, they would find that their casualty rate was close to one-fifth.

The British believed this report because the casualties of the British army were not too far from this figure. The Englishman had never doubted his own judgment of others.

Faced with the sudden outbreak of the Sardinian army, the Russians found that this soft persimmon was not easy to deal with.

Fitzroy Somerset decided to test if the intelligence was true. After all, along the way, the Bulgarians had provided them with too much intelligence. It was not surprising that there were Bulgarians among the enemy.

…

As soon as the Russians made their move, Montes was about to go crazy from the battle report he had just received. Suddenly, there was a burst of artillery fire, and the shells accurately hit their artillery positions.

If it was only one place, it could be said that it was luck. However, all the artillery positions were hit, and all of them were raided.

This was not the end. After the artillery positions were unlucky, the military supplies warehouse was accurately baptized.

Even though the Russian Army was far away and the accuracy of the artillery was low, they still suffered heavy losses after this round of bombardment.

The artillery fire was completed, and the Russian Army accurately found the weakness of their forces, and launched the fiercest attack.

Montes knew that a traitor had leaked the intelligence, but at this point, he could only call for reinforcements. Even if he wanted to settle the score, he had to stop the Russians first.

"How long before that idiot Oliver arrives at the frontline?" Montes asked again.

The attendant replied nervously, "Major-General Oliver reported that they have just recaptured Plovdiv from the guerrillas, and are expected to arrive in Sofia in a week."

It would not be a problem for them to travel more than 120 kilometers in a week. The normal marching speed of the British army was only 20 to 30 kilometers a day. Now that there were guerrillas attacking, it was understandable that they were slower.

Montes ordered, "Order that idiot to speed up. He must arrive at the frontline in three days, or else he will be punished according to military law!"

"Yes, Commander!" the attendant answered at once.

Montes was still worried, so he instructed, "Wait a moment. Tell that idiot to send half of his troops here with light equipment. Leave the heavy supplies with the troops at the back. That will speed things up."

The Russians were playing poker. This was a risk, but it was also an opportunity. As long as the reinforcements arrived, the allied army could still turn defeat into victory.

Otherwise, Montes would have fled long ago. If the Sardinians did not want to continue fighting, they could find a way to make the British the scapegoat. Why couldn't Montes make the Sardinians the scapegoat?

He was the commander of the allied army, after all. He had many ways to trick people.

Right now, the British and Osman armies were working together to bear the brunt of the pressure on the battlefield. As long as he gave up some of his positions to the Sardinians and Osman armies, the Russians would probably be able to break through the defensive line in less than a day.

Montes still wanted military credit. If they lost the Sofia region, even if his allies took the blame, he would not be able to escape the blame as a commander, and it would leave a permanent stain on his reputation.

… …

Oliver was still capable. It was just that this was his first time on the battlefield, and his lack of experience had led to a series of failures.

Before Montes' orders arrived, he had already sped up his march. However, the roads along the way were simply too messy.

As the area where the Bulgarian guerrillas were active, how could they not disrupt the traffic? They had to repair the roads as they marched, and they also had to deal with snipers that came from nowhere.

Occasionally, there would be landmines. These were sponsored by Franz. He had been worried that the Russian Army would be defeated, so he had prepared a batch of landmines in advance to block the pursuers.

He did not expect the allied army to make such foolish moves. None of them wanted to do anything for their allies to take advantage of, so they lost their advantage.

The Russians were not interested in these cheap bombs, so they gave them to the Bulgarian guerrillas. Now, it was Oliver's turn to have a headache.

These landmines were the simplest to set up, and it was very easy to clear them. The only thing that was needed was time.

There were no good ideas, but there were many stupid ones. The Englishmen drove their animals through the minefields, but their march was inevitably delayed.

… …

On the 2nd of January, 1853, the Bulgarian guerrillas suddenly attacked the back of the British position. The allied army was in chaos, and at this critical moment, the Sardinians fled. The defensive line that Montes had painstakingly built up was broken.

There was no other way. Montes did not have enough troops to guard against the possible appearance of the Bulgarian guerrillas, and was caught unprepared.

The worst part was that the reinforcements were less than fifteen kilometers away from the frontline. If the Sardinian army did not flee, and instead did their best to help, they could still hold out until the reinforcements arrived.

Obviously, Mantua did not have the resolve to fight the Russians to the death. If they could escape, they would not hesitate. After all, it was the British who had lost their defensive line, so they could not be blamed.

In order to avoid being blamed, Mantua even kidnapped some of the British soldiers to escape with them.

This escape caused Montes to die. As a defeated general, he was not far from being court-martialed. If he could make it back alive, he would inevitably have to go there.

Oliver, who had hurried all the way here, was the second unlucky person. He had exhausted himself and disregarded his losses to rush here. He had arrived at the last moment with great difficulty, only to encounter a battle with the Russians immediately.

Unsurprisingly, those who had fewer men on the battlefield were always at a disadvantage. Oliver had not brought along his cannons because he was in a hurry, and was at a disadvantage as soon as the battle began.

After a bitter battle, Oliver successfully led his troops to flee, and he even rescued a group of scattered British soldiers. His efforts were not in vain.

The Russians were also exhausted, and the soldiers did not have the strength to continue the pursuit. Seeing this situation, Fitzroy Somerset naturally chose to stop while he was ahead.

There was no way to defend Sofia to the death. Montes had long considered this problem. Unfortunately, the city had been tossed around by the Osman too much, and the city's defenses were long gone.

The people in the city gnashed their teeth in hatred of the allied forces. By relying on the city to fight the Russians in the streets, they were the first to fall into a civil war.

Moreover, the Osman government was too inefficient. The supplies they had accumulated in Sofia were not enough for the allied forces to consume in a month. If they dared to stay in the isolated city, they would be completely annihilated!

At this point in the battle, the allied forces were already very strained. They could not count on anyone to help them out.

Even if they were to transfer reinforcements from home, there would not be enough time. After the battle was lost, the allied forces scrambled to escape.

It was impossible to completely annihilate a battle line that was more than ten kilometers long. Russia had only managed to tear open a section of the allied forces' defensive line.

If it wasn't for the fact that he had to rescue more soldiers, Oliver would not have had to rush over to fight the Russians. They could have turned around and fled, and the Russians would not have chased after them at all.

After half a year, both sides invested nearly 200,000 troops in the battle, which ended in a pyrrhic victory for the Russians.

Looking at the casualty report, Fitzroy Somerset could responsibly say that he had completed the Tsarist government's mission well. He had truly achieved victory regardless of the casualties.

The total number of casualties was as high as 67,000. The Russian Army had basically been replaced, and 26,000 of them had died in battle (including the wounded who could not be rescued).

Even with a steady stream of reinforcements from the rear, the Russian Army was now badly damaged, and urgently needed to be reorganized. In the final battle, it was obvious that the Russian Army's fighting strength had declined.

After paying such a huge price, the results were: they defeated 100,000 allied troops, killed 34,000 allied troops, and captured 25,000 allied troops, including more than 11,000 wounded allied troops.

Judging from the casualties on both sides, it was Russia who had lost this battle. If it weren't for the Bulgarian guerrillas, the outcome of this battle would still be unknown.

For the sake of saving face, Fitzroy Somerset did not hesitate to swallow the achievements of the Bulgarian guerrillas, and ignored the casualties they had paid.

Of course, in order to make the Bulgarians continue to work for him, Fitzroy Somerset reported to his country that the Bulgarian guerrillas had delayed the enemy's reinforcements, and had made an outstanding contribution to the victory of the war.

That was all. This alone was enough for the Tsarist government to agree to the conditions he had previously promised.

The Tsarist government was originally prepared to annex the Bulgarian region, and St. Peter's Castle was worried that the guerrillas would become an obstacle. Now that they could be incorporated, how could Nicholas I Of Russia refuse?

No matter what the losses on both sides were, it could not affect the historical status of this battle. This battle was recognized by historians as the turning point of the Second Bulgarian War.