Chapter 711

The Government of the United Kingdom was in trouble, but the outside world naturally knew nothing about it. In this day and age, there was neither satellite surveillance nor convenient network communication.

It was already very impressive to be able to roughly estimate a country's industrial production capacity. It was simply impossible to figure out the situation of each subdivision of a country.

Even to collect intelligence, it was to start from within the Government of the United Kingdom. The Government of the United Kingdom didn't do statistics in advance, and it was even more impossible for others to do the statistics.

Such a big thing had to be kept strictly confidential. It was unrealistic to keep it a secret forever, but it was still possible to block the news for a short period of time.

Just as the British were waving money and buying everywhere, the Russo-Japanese War had also entered a white-hot stage.

Perhaps it was because of the lessons learned from the previous wars, or perhaps it was simply because the Russian Navy was not strong enough, this time the Tsarist government was rational for once and didn't go on an expedition.

Of course, the statement to the outside world was to wait for the warships ordered by Shinra to enter service, and then settle the score with the Japanese.

Regardless of whether people believed it or not, the Russians believed it anyway.

The Russian Army changed its previous image of a boorish man and fully defended in the Far East, relying on fortifications to delay the Japanese Army's attack and buy time for the opening of the Siberian Railway.

A decisive battle was impossible. No matter how the Japanese Army provoked, the Russian Army just held their ground.

Anyway, the Russian Empire didn't have much, but it had a lot of land. "Trading space for time," the Tsarist government wasn't afraid at all.

Unlike in the original timeline, under Franz's butterfly effect, the tactics used by everyone had improved to the level of a war.

Machine guns, trenches, mortars, these cheap, simple, and practical tactics had been popularized in the Russian Army.

If it wasn't for the logistics that couldn't keep up, they probably wouldn't even have to retreat. One had to know that a Hairy Bear was not someone to be trifled with.

The Russian Army held their ground all the way, which made the attacking Japanese Army suffer. Anyone with a little military knowledge knew that there were more casualties on the offensive than on the defensive.

Even if the Japanese Army was willing to risk their lives, it couldn't change the fact that there were more casualties. In just half a year, the total casualties on both sides had exceeded 300,000.

Among them, the Japanese Army had 98,000 dead and 112,000 wounded; the Russian Army had 53,000 dead and 64,000 wounded.

In a sense, the Russo-Japanese War had set a new war record. In modern wars, the number of casualties and injuries was so close that it was rare.

In terms of the number of casualties, it seemed like the Russians had the upper hand, but in reality, that was not the case.

The Russians had the advantage of defense, but as they retreated, another 20,000 Russian soldiers were captured and 30,000 were missing.

Adding these figures together, Japan and Russia could only be considered to have suffered heavy losses, with no one gaining the upper hand.

Kingdom of Japan and Russia had no advantage.

St. Peter Castle. Ever since the Russo-Japanese War broke out, Nicholas II's nerves hadn't relaxed.

As the first foreign war after Nicholas II succeeded the throne, the outcome of the war was not only related to the future strategy of the Russian Empire, but also related to Nicholas II's prestige as a monarch.

Unlike his father and grandfather, who were political powerhouses, Nicholas II was very average in the field of internal affairs.

Of course, this wasn't Nicholas II's responsibility. When Nicholas was young, he was weak and indecisive, so Alexander III didn't even consider letting him inherit the throne.

Nicholas himself wasn't ready to inherit the throne. After all, Alexander III had four sons, so he had a lot of choices.

Unfortunately, the plan was not as fast as the changes. Two of his brothers died prematurely, and the other younger brother was blinded by love and decided to marry a commoner.

Before he knew it, Nikolai had become the sole heir. In order to prevent the throne from falling into someone else's hands, Nicholas could only force himself to inherit the throne.

It turned out that a melon that was bitten by force was not sweet. Despite the assistance of the old ministers left by Alexander III, after Nicholas II succeeded to the throne, the efficiency of the Tsarist government's governance declined by more than one level.

After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, this situation became even more obvious. Many times, the Tsarist government planned one thing, but when it came to implementation, it turned into something else.

Because his political skills weren't strong enough, Nicholas II's reputation was greatly damaged as soon as he succeeded the throne. Later on, he tried hard to wash his reputation, but he couldn't make up for the decline in prestige.

In order to change this situation, Nicholas II urgently needed a victory to improve his status in the eyes of the people and strengthen his control over the government.

Thinking was thinking, but reality always liked to slap him in the face. The Japanese army, which was weak in the impression, showed amazing tenacity on the battlefield in the Far East. They didn't stop their progress because of the heavy casualties.

Not only that, the Japanese were willing to use human lives to make up for it, and Nicholas II wasn't afraid.

In any case, the Russian Empire still had more gray animals than the Japanese.

If they really fought with human lives, with the population advantage of three times that of Japan, the Russian Empire had a great chance of winning.

Unfortunately, war was never just a matter of the number of people. As the war went on, the situation gradually developed in the unfavorable side.

Putting down the telegram in his hand, Nicholas II said indifferently, "Lieutenant General Kuropatkin called. The strategic materials in the Far East are in urgent need.

According to the current speed of battlefield consumption and material replenishment, the materials we have hoarded in the Far East will be exhausted in half a year at most.

At that stage, can the Siberian Railway be opened to traffic before the materials are exhausted? "

Modern wars were fought with logistics. The more advanced the equipment and the more powerful the firepower, the higher the dependence on logistics.

Compared to the original time and space, the Russian Army's equipment was obviously much more advanced, and the corresponding logistical requirements were also much higher.

Because they didn't expect that the Japanese would dare to fight without a declaration, the Tsarist government's strategic materials hoarded in the Far East were seriously insufficient.

This was still under the situation of full defense. If they took the initiative to attack, the consumption of materials would be even greater.

In the case of domestic replenishment, they could only last for half a year. Obviously, the number of materials in stock had reached the dangerous line.

At this point in the war, no one continued to shout the slogan of Tokyo in three months.

Facts had proved that the Japanese were not weaklings. People with discerning eyes knew that it was impossible to end the war in half a year.

Prime Minister Sergei Witte: "We have done our best to meet the deadline, but there are still many difficulties to open the railway in half a year.

The main problem is the climate. The climate in Siberia is really bad.

Now in this season, we can barely continue construction day and night. Once winter comes, many places don't even have the most basic construction conditions. "

It was not an excuse, but the winter in Siberia was really not suitable for railway construction.

Even if the lives of the French laborers were not taken seriously, the most basic quality of the railway must still be considered.

They didn't expect to be like ordinary railways that could be used for decades, but at least it should be able to support the war, right?

Such a low requirement was also not easy to meet. Not only must the craftsmanship be accurate, but even the requirements for materials were also very high.

Not to mention anything else, the rails and sleepers must be frost-resistant. Otherwise, ordinary rails couldn't withstand the ultra-low temperature of minus 50 or 60 degrees.